


Christmas Eve Emergency

by bunnysworld



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Tree, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Pets, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-26
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-03-03 16:21:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 44
Words: 32,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2857229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnysworld/pseuds/bunnysworld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just as Doctor Merlin Emrys is about to close up his veterinary practice for the Holidays, an emergency comes in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Merlocked18](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merlocked18/gifts).



> Warning: Not beta'd.
> 
> Written for Merls, who feels a bit down and definitely needs some fluff.

Merlin nodded at Freya. „Just go home, it’s been a long day and you should have Christmas Eve to yourself. Tell Percy I said hi.” He smiled tiredly.

She took the denim shirt that was their work-clothes off and stuffed it into her bag. “You should close up here, too. Everyone is at home and with the snow coming down like that, it’s unlikely that someone else will show up.”

“I’ll just check on the animals again and then lock up for the night. Merry Christmas, Freya.”

“Merry Christmas, Merlin.” She got up on her toes and put a sound smooch on his cheek before she grabbed her coat and bag and left the practice.

Merlin smiled after her. He couldn’t have a better assistant. She loved animals as much as he did and together they had done quite a few miracles, rescuing beloved pets. This year, she had met a nice young man and it was their first Christmas together, so who was he insisting that she had to stay until the practice officially closed? She was right, nobody would show up in this weather anyway. 

He went to the back room where a few pets lay in small cages, recovering from surgeries and whatnots, waited for him to check on them. He was just done petting a little kitten’s head carefully, reassuring him that he would be back with his human the next day if he just slept well through the night and ate a bit of food in the morning, when he heard the bell at the front door ring and someone stumbling in. 

“Hello? Anybody there? We need help!”

Merlin quickly closed the cage and rushed out. “How can I…” He gasped when he saw the baby dog in the man’s arms. It was way too small to be away from its mother and the beautiful golden fur was covered in blood. “Over here.” He ordered them into the examination room. “What happened?”

The man put the puppy down on the table but didn’t let go. “I don’t even know! I’ve left the room for a moment, the next thing I know was the Christmas tree on the ground and Gwenny yelping in pain. I think a branch hit her and there were broken ornaments on the floor.”

The puppy wiggled and whimpered when Merlin tried to examine her. So he took a deep breath and whispered something in the old language. The little dog relaxed immediately and Merlin could examine her. 

“Will she be alright? Please tell me she will be alright!” The man fidgeted and was more in the way than any help at all. 

For a moment, Merlin pondered using his relaxation spell on him, too, but then decided to involve him in the procedures. He’d just sent Freya home and some additional hands couldn’t hurt. So he ordered him around, asking for this and that, not caring if he needed it at that moment or not. After a while of working together, Merlin had removed all the chips of glass that were still stuck on Gwenny’s sensitive mouth and found out that she hadn’t swallowed any of them. She had been lucky to escape the large branches of the tree and only had a few pine needles in her fur. 

Cleaning the blood out of the fur, too, Merlin stepped back a bit. “There we go. Baby’s first Christmas didn’t really go as planned, did it?” Now that the animal was on the way of mending, Merlin looked up for the first time and was met with a fearful look of incredibly blue eyes in a handsome face. 

“She…she shouldn’t even have been there already. The people who gave her to me…I don’t know, I wanted to pick her up in January. So…I wasn’t prepared. It was all my fault.”

“They just dropped her off? She’s too little to be on her own!”

“So I thought.” The man’s shoulders slumped. “Will she be okay?” He carefully reached out his hand but didn’t dare to pet the puppy.

Merlin nodded. “She will be fine. I think she was fascinated by some baubles and tore down the tree and bit on one. Next year you might want to put the glass baubles and anything chewable a little further up the tree. I’m more concerned that she was taken away from her mother so soon.”

“What can I do?”

Merlin really liked how concerned the man was for his dog and that he wanted to do anything he could to make up for the fact that stupid people had made a huge mistake. “I can give you Gwaine's number. He's a dog trainer, really good at what he does. You could talk to him, he had cases like that before.”

“Yes, please!” The blond stroked the small dog’s head with one finger. “What about her now? Does she have to stay? Or can I take her home? I don’t want her to be alone.”

Nodding, Merlin cleaned his work-place up a bit and watched as Gwenny started to stir again. “If you promise that she won’t get near any glass baubles again, you can take her home. I’d just like to check her again in two days or so.”

A determined look showed on the man’s face. “I will bring her in again. Thanks for being here for us, Doctor Emrys. How much do I owe you?”

“Merlin, just call me Merlin. Doctor Emrys is my mother.” He smiled and just then his stomach grumbled. “You know what? There’s this little diner across the street. I haven’t had dinner yet. If you don’t have better plans, you could buy me some food?” Merlin had no idea where he took the courage from, he usually wasn’t big on flirting. But there was something about this man and the way he was worried about his pet that gave Merlin the strength to just ask. 

A wide smile showed on the man’s face. “If we can take Gwenny there, sure! There’s nothing waiting for me at home anyway.” He laughed. “Aside from having to clean up the mess that a fallen Christmas tree left and then making the place puppy-proof.” He accepted the blanket Merlin handed him and wrapped Gwenny up in it which earned him a little lick while Merlin went to get his coat. 

As they stomped through the snow to find the diner still open, Merlin smiled. “Maybe I can help with that?”

“I’d love you to.”


	2. Breakfast with puppy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, not beta'd. Inspired by [this ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2859002) Don't forget to give her ALL the kudos!!!!!!!
> 
> So, yeah, it's merls' fault. *nodnods*

Merlin frowned and then stretched. He felt way too comfortable in Arthur’s bed already. Only three nights ago, Arthur rushed into his practice with Gwenny in his arms. After he’d taken care of the dog, they had gone to the diner across the street and had a late lunch until Gilli wanted to close up for the night, it was Christmas Eve after all.

For a while, they had stood in front of the now dark diner and when Arthur finally asked if Merlin wanted to start the dog-proofing of his place right away, Merlin was more than happy to say yes. If he were honest, he hadn’t really left since. Of course they made a few trips to the practice, the animals needed tending to after all, but they had returned to Arthur’s place right away, spending most of the time cuddled up on the couch and in bed. 

But something was off now. Merlin opened one eye. Where a warm Arthur should have been, smelling like sleep, his hair sticking out, was just and empty pillow and Merlin scrambled up. He made a grumpy little sound and blinked a few more times against the light coming from the window. 

A little yelp made him turn his head. “Morning, Gwenny.”

The puppy tried to climb up onto the bed but was too little to make it on her own, so he helped her up. After he examined her nicely-healing wounds again, he stroked her head and smiled at the way she wagged her little tail all over the place. “Happy to see me?”

First, she tried to jump up to lick his face, not reaching it, then she started to sniff around on the bed. 

Merlin smiled. “So many naughty smells here, aren’t there?”

The door opened and Arthur, in nothing but a pair of soft sweatpants, came in, carrying a tray. “You better not get used to it.” He grinned. “I see, you already found a replacement. There I turn my back for twenty minutes and you already have a new companion.” Setting down the tray, he climbed on the bed again and leaned in for a soft kiss. 

“I know,” Merlin tried to look guilty, “dogs are not allowed to be on the bed. But could you resist those eyes?” He held Gwenny up a bit and she wagged her tail at Arthur excitedly and tried to lick his face. 

Chuckling, Arthur pulled back a bit. “You’re right, the eyes are hard to resist. As long as she doesn’t eat our breakfast…”

Merlin put the wiggling puppy down and looked at the tray. “You made all this?”

“Never said I’m a chef, but I didn’t say I can’t cook either. So, what would you like? Toast? Scrambled eggs? Fruit?” 

“Tea will do, thank you.” Merlin reached for a cup and sipped slowly, smiling to himself.

“You need to eat. Breakfast is important. I made all of this just for you. And what’s so funny anyway?” 

“I will. My stomach just needs a tea to wake up. Give it a few minutes.” Merlin smiled at Arthur. “Nothing is funny. It’s just…on Christmas Eve I thought this was going to be another boring lonely Christmas and once more I’d have to face the dawning of a new year on my own. And now…” He put his empty tea cup down and turned to Arthur.

Arthur was munching on a toast with jam that dripped down his fingers. “Now you’ll have to deal with us.”

Merlin moved the tray over to a nightstand and then took Arthur’s wrist. He grinned before he started to suck Arthur’s fingers into his mouth.

Yelping, Arthur quickly swallowed the rest of his toast. “What are you…oh my God, Merlin, this…” He gasped when he felt Merlin’s tongue between his fingers.

“Good?” Merlin grinned wickedly now. He didn’t wait for Arthur’s reply before he continued to suck, his eyes fixed on Arthur’s face. When he saw Arthur’s head rolling back, he knew what he did wasn’t half bad and resumed his activities on Arthur’s neck. He had discovered quite a few very sensitive spots on Arthur’s body in the past days and he would use his knowledge.

So he worked his way down Arthur’s chest with his lips and tongue, teasing Arthur’s nipples thoroughly on the way and only stopped when he reached the waistband of Arthur’s sweat pants. He raised his head. “Hmm…ran out of skin to kiss…what am I going to do now?”

Groaning, Arthur started to wriggle, trying to get out of the confining fabric. “Help.” He ordered.

Merlin laughed and pulled the pants down when Arthur lifted his arse off the bed and then took a deep breath when he was once again faced with the wonderful cock he’d encountered a few times in the past days. He growled deep in his throat. “I can’t get enough of you.” 

Arthur arched against him when Merlin finally wrapped his lips around his dick and teased with his tongue. “Merlin…”

The desperation in Arthur’s voice was music to Merlin’s ears. It had been too long since he could make anyone react this way. And that a man like Arthur wanted him so much was the best Christmas present he’d ever gotten. He loved the way Arthur urged him on and to feel his hand in his hair. Merlin didn’t even care about himself, even though he was hard as a rock just from blowing Arthur. All he wanted to do was to pleasure him. 

“Merl…” Arthur’s breath hitched and he tensed a bit and that was all the warning Merlin got before Arthur came. 

Slowly, Merlin pulled back and sat back on his haunches, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, breathing just as hard as Arthur. 

“Gosh, Merlin.” Arthur looked up at him, still panting, his pupils still wide-blown, sweaty hair clinging to his forehead. 

“Yeah?” Merlin slumped down next to Arthur and turned to his side, a grin on his face. 

“If…if this is…if this is what…”

“Huh?”

“If this is what I get for making breakfast, I’ll make it every morning.”

Chuckling, Merlin fell back into the pillows. 

 

For a while, Gwenny had watched her daddies doing strange things, but that got boring pretty quickly and first she had tried to chew on Merlin’s runners before she used them as a pillow and was sound asleep in no time.


	3. Rainy Sunday afternoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just another lazy Sunday afternoon. But what else could they do with it pouring outside?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, this is all merlocked18's fault for drawing another piece in the series. Go, check it out and leave her all the kudos! ALL THE KUDOS, I say! If it weren't for her, this story wouldn't exist.
> 
> And yeah, once again, not beta'd. 
> 
> Happy new year, btw.

Merlin sighed contentedly. It was a rainy October Sunday afternoon and somehow they had managed to stay in bed – or rather, go back to bed after pretending to be adults, getting up, having breakfast, walking the dog and coming back in to do so many things that needed their attention. But pulling Arthur down onto the sheets again had been so much more appealing than paying bills and looking for people to enlarge the animal clinic. 

They had made love and Merlin had fallen asleep later, snuggled back into Arthur with Arthur’s arm draped over his waist, listening to the rain and Arthur’s soft snoring. 

Now he felt more than he saw Arthur over him, softly kissing his shoulder, making his way up to his jaw. Merlin smiled. “Hey,” he whispered.

“Hey yourself.”

Mmmm, soft warm lips on his were really a good thing to wake up to. Slowly, Merlin opened his eyes. “What exactly are you planning to do?”

Arthur nuzzled into his neck and nibbled his ear playfully before he whispered “I’m going to fuck you so good that all you see and hear and think is me. Slow, when you want it wild, hard and demanding when you want to go slow. And when you scream out my name, I’ll take you again.”

Merlin groaned and stretched. “What makes you so sure that this is what I want?” He reached up and buried his fingers in Arthur’s hair. 

Grinning, Arthur moved a bit and let their cocks brush together, drawing a gasp out of Merlin. “Your dick is always a good indicator.”

“The traitor,” Merlin brought out between sweet kisses and he felt Arthur smile against his skin. 

His legs fell apart and Merlin groaned when he felt Arthur’s cock rubbing against his balls. Aside from feeling Arthur inside him, this was one of his favorite things, it turned him on so much and Arthur knew how to tease him and drive him crazy. “Come on.”

Arthur chuckled but obliged; a bit of fumbling with lube later, he made Merlin spread his legs even more and gently slid in. 

Merlin drew in a long breath when he felt Arthur entering him and he pressed his head back into the pillows. They had done this a few times today already, there was no need for preparation, he was relaxed and eager. Closing his eyes, he made content little noises, the way Arthur was taking things slow surely would drive him insane, but it felt so good. 

The made love like that for a while, Arthur slowly grinding against Merlin, Merlin’s hands roaming over hot skin, caressing and teasing. 

“Merlin, I…”

Merlin just nodded. He knew that Arthur needed a change of pace and he didn’t mind one bit. “Want me to turn over?”

“No!” Arthur pressed a kiss against Merlin’s chest. “I need to see your face.” Then he pulled back a bit and started to slam into Merlin.

Merlin arched up, trying to move with Arthur, against him, the friction drawing all kinds of noises from him. 

“Let…let go…Merl…Merlin, let go!”

Grabbing Arthur’s hair in his fist, Merlin felt Arthur expand a bit inside him, loving the sensation, just before he came and he let his own orgasm take over, too. 

Arthur slumped on top of him, panting into his neck and Merlin didn’t mind his weight on him. He made a disappointed little sound when Arthur slipped out of him and rolled over.

“I…I don’t mind being woken like that, you know?” A lazy grin showed on Merlin’s face. 

Arthur wiped a hand up his forehead, making his sweaty strands of hair stand on end. “I don’t mind waking you up like that.” 

A strange sound made Merlin lift his head. He had heard the sound before, but had thought that he was the one making it, a needy little whine. He made all kinds of noises when Arthur was having his way with him, so he hadn’t thought about it. But he was definitely not making the sound now. 

He chuckled when he saw Gwenny standing next to the bed with her leash in her mouth, looking expectantly at them, whining softly. 

“Your dog needs to go outside.”

Arthur groaned. “Now?” 

Merlin turned to his side. “I don’t know how long she’s been standing there already. She might have to go for a while now, you’ve been taking your time.” He smiled.

“I didn’t hear you complain. And what do you mean? Our dog watches us having sex?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Merlin threw Gwenny a look and she wagged her tail, the noises she made getting louder.

“Come on, Arthur, take her for a walk.” Merlin rolled back onto his back.

“Why me? I’m spent.”

“She’s your dog. You carried her into my clinic last year.”

“You’re her daddy, too.” Arthur grumbled.

“I’m not the daddy who trained her to announce when she has to go and then has to clean up the puddles because the other daddy is too lazy to let her out.”

Arthur scrambled up a bit. “But you’re the daddy who taught her that we’ll jump up each time she drags her leash in. She has trained you well, I’d say.”

“And you. Now go before she has an accident.”

Gwenny carefully put the leash on the bed and ran to the door, throwing looks back at them.

Sighing, Arthur got up, found his pair of sweatpants and a hoodie, then his rain coat and a baseball hat. As soon as he opened the door, Gwenny dashed out. 

Merlin grinned. Not only did he have a day full of great sex, he wasn’t the one who had to leave the warm cozy bed to walk the dog, either. Life was good. 

+++

Merlin had dozed off again when he heard the key in the door. He smiled. Soon, Arthur would be back under the covers with him and he already had an idea of how to reward him for taking the dog out for a walk in this weather.

“Gwenny! Gwen! No, come here! We need to…! GWEN!”

With a huge flomp, a very wet, very dirty dog landed right next to Merlin and when he opened his eyes, she licked his face enthusiastically.


	4. Odor issues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gwenny has some little issues and the boys don't really know what to do about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry. I have no idea where this little piece of silliness even came from. Read it with tongue in cheek and twinkle in your eye.
> 
> And again, not beta'd.

Merlin scrunched his nose when he noticed the smell. “Arthur!” He threw him a look.

“What?” Arthur took his eyes from the TV screen, turned and frowned.

“Don’t even smell your own farts? This is horrible!” Merlin pinched his nose shut with thumb and forefinger.

Arthur pointed to the dog who was sleeping peacefully at their feet in front of the couch. “You should know how dogs smell. And how their winds smell, too.”

Merlin looked down at Gwenny, not convinced.

“But you’re right, that’s horrible, what did you feed her?”

“Me?” Merlin looked at Arthur. “You fed her this morning. Did you try out that new dog food?”

Arthur nodded. “Yeah. I mixed it a bit with the old stuff. She seemed to like it.”

“We need to change her diet, if she keeps poisoning us like that.” With a mock-cough, Merlin got up and opened a window.

“Now you’re being over-dramatic. It’s just a little dog fart.” Arthur rolled his eyes and reached for the popcorn.

“Change of diet it is! Doctor’s orders!”

+++

“Whoa!” Gwaine grinned as he averted his face. 

“Told you! We’ve tried everything, I have no idea what’s wrong with her.” Merlin looked at their pup who sat in front of Gwaine, wagging her whole behind because she was so happy to see him. 

“And you can’t even hold a grudge. Look at these eyes.” Gwaine cooed before he picked up a stick. “Here, you go, Gwenny, fetch!” He threw it far away.

“I did every examination I could think of. She’s healthy, but her winds are deadly.” Merlin looked at his friend unhappily.

“Well, she’s at an age where a lot of things are changing. She’s a teenager, in puberty. I assume you’ve changed her diet as well?”

“Of course, several times, it just doesn’t get better.”

“Remember when we were teenagers? We stank quite a bit and I don’t only mean the winds we produced.” Gwaine grinned.

Merlin groaned. “Are you telling me she will soon go around trying to light her farts?” He chuckled. “Fun times we’ve had.”

“It might come as news to you, my veterinary friend, dogs do not have thumbs and are therefore unable to use lighters or matches.” Gwaine tried to stay serious but soon they both chuckled. 

After a while, Merlin leaned against the fence that surrounded the dogs’ playground at Gwaine’s dog school. He sighed. “So you’re saying that we’ve just have to wait it out?”

“That’s basically all you can do if she doesn’t develop any other medical symptoms.”

“I’ll notice those.”

“Of course you will.”

+++

“Gwen!”

With a sigh and a frown, Merlin got up to open the patio doors while the dog looked guiltily at him. 

“I know you’re not doing that on purpose, but give us a warning! You’ve learned not to pee against the couch anymore and we managed to make you announce when you have to go outside. Why can’t you just…I don’t know…go fart at Arthur?”

Gwenny followed him to the doors and sniffed a bit outside, still throwing him a guilty look once in a while.

“Hey! I’ve heard that!” Arthur appeared from the little room he called his office. “Imagine her doing it in my office. I’d faint immediately! And it doesn’t even have a proper window. We’d never get the smell out.”

Merlin grinned and wrapped his arms around Arthur’s waist. “If you fainted, I’d have to do a mouth-to-mouth.”

“That’s not how it works and you know that.” Arthur grinned and leaned in.

Soon, they were in the middle of a thorough snogging session and completely forgot about the smell their dog produced. 

+++

Arthur rubbed his belly when they entered their place. “Wow, that was good.”

“Told you that Gwaine makes the best chili in town. We just couldn’t have missed his annual party at the dog school.” Merlin grinned. 

Undoing the button of his jeans, Arthur kicked his shoes off. “I think I need a little lie-down. Too much chili.”

Now Merlin laughed. He remembered when Gwaine had started making chili and he was the guinea pig to Gwaine’s cooking endeavors. More than once he’d come home and his body decided he needed to hibernate to get rid of all the calories or it would find other ways to dispose of all the things he’d eaten. “Isn’t there a game on? Go, watch it, I’ll clean up Gwenny and join you.”

Arthur pressed a little kiss on the tip of Merlin’s nose. “Love you.”

“Yeah, you always love me when I do the dirty jobs, I know.” Merlin pinched Arthur’s arse and went to find a towel that he could use to get the worst dirt out of Gwenny’s fur. 

A while later, Merlin joined Arthur on the couch. “What are you watching?”

“A hobbit running about in the jungle, getting himself in all kinds of trouble with dangerous animals while he’s wearing nail polish.”

“Huh?”

“’s called ‘Wild Things’, we’ve watched it before.” Arthur still hadn’t moved much.

Merlin grinned. “Ah, okay, I remember. Stupid people getting themselves in danger. I’m sure there’s a whole army of medical staff waiting behind the camera in case the encounters get too real.” He snuggled against Arthur and didn’t care what kind of crap was on TV. They’d had a wonderful day together, Gwenny had fun with their friends running about, they all had spent time together and it was the perfect ending to a nice weekend. 

Arthur fiddled with the remote control when Merlin sniffed. 

“Oh no!”

“What?”

“Don’t you smell it? I thought we were over that! Wasn’t half a year enough?”

Arthur frowned. “Gwenny! Bad girl!”

Gwenny, who had curled up at their feet again, sat up and glared at him. 

Merlin took a magazine from the table and tried to fan the smell away. “Are you sure?” He raised an eyebrow in a way Uncle Gaius would have been impressed of. 

“What? It’s our dog who has the digestions issues. We thought it was under control, but obviously all that running about didn’t do her good today. Maybe someone fed her chili!”

Merlin sighed, put the magazine down and gently stroked the dog’s head, who still looked at Arthur accusingly. “Don’t mind him. There is only one someone here who had too much chili and it sure wasn’t you. I know you don’t like spicy things.”

Gwenny looked at him all gratefully and licked his nose. 

“And you, Mr. Pendragon!” Merlin turned. “Shame on you! Blaming our innocent little girl! You’re the odor offender here!”

Arthur couldn’t hold in the giggles anymore. “Hey, don’t blame me for trying!”

The laughter was contagious and Merlin joined in soon before he dramatically shrugged. “Tell me again why I love you?”


	5. He sure knows how to distract

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur and Merlin move their TV set and then things happen. And there's Gwenny, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, unbeta'd. :)
> 
> Inspired by Merls, her bf and a TV set, a certain shirt and a night full of hot new Colin pics. Deal with it :D

Merlin grunted. „Come on, Arthur, you always pretend to be the strong man in the house. Prove it!”

Arthur just threw him a look and lifted the other side of the TV set. Together they hauled it across the living room where they had set up a brand new little glass table for the TV to sit on. Of course, Gwenny had to stick her curious nose into the moving process, too, and nearly made the stumble. 

“Gwen, get out of the way,” Arthur snarled.

Throwing him an insulted look, Gwen padded to her corner and curled up in her bed, facing away from them.

They gently set the heavy TV down and Merlin grunted again as he straightened up. “Now you did it. Your dog won’t speak to you anymore.”

Arthur wiped the sweat of his forehead and made the strands of hair stand up – a thing Merlin loved and he would tell him some day – and grinned. “Until I break out the treats, I know.”

Merlin laughed when Gwenny’s ears turned into Arthur’s direction at the mentioning of ‘treats’.

“See? It works every time. And don’t you think that the new TV set looks much better here?”

Nodding absentmindedly, Merlin inspected his shirt. “Oh no!”

“What? What happened? Are you okay?” Arthur was close in no time.

“No…yes, I am. It’s just…look at it. I’ve just bought it two days ago and wanted to wear it to Percy’s birthday thing later. Now it’s all dusty and dirty from lugging around the TV.” Merlin frowned unhappily.

Arthur looked him up and down. “Let me make you feel better.” He reached for the hem of the now spoilt burgundy shirt and pulled it over Merlin’s head. 

“How is that supposed to make me feel better?” Merlin mumbled grumpily but then gasped when Arthur didn’t waste time and sank right to his knees in front of him. He tried to help with his belt and the jeans, but Arthur batted his fingers away and finally freed his cock.

If Merlin had a thought to spare, he might have wasted it on the fact that he felt like his head was exploding. His knees had given way a while ago, but Arthur didn’t allow him to hold on to anything but him – and maybe the TV, but Merlin wasn’t sure if Arthur noticed that. Arthur usually wasn’t too keen on giving blowjobs, but this one was by far the most enthusiastically delivered one Merlin had ever gotten. 

“Arth…Arthur…,” he keened and didn’t know if he should push Arthur away while he was coming or if he should try to slam into his mouth. Which he couldn’t have anyway, Arthur has pulled him so close and held him tight with his hands on his arse. So Merlin made another high-pitched noise and came, faintly registering that Arthur tried to swallow it all. 

Only then, Arthur let him go and helped him sit on the floor, all the while grinning like a loon. “Feeling better now?”

Merlin tried to catch his breath. “Yeah, a lot better.” He grinned back and ruffled Gwenny’s fur when she padded closer, very interested in why her daddies were on the floor now. 

Burying his face against the soft fur of her ear, Merlin pulled back and Gwenny looked at him, unsure if he was okay or if she should do something and if, what. 

“He sure knows how to distract me, you know?”

Gwenny licked his face.


	6. The birth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin and Arthur want to go out on a romantic dinner date but then Merlin gets called away on an emergency

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the result of some fun chat with Merls, so yes, I blame it all on her.
> 
> I apologize in advance. Not only is this not beta'd (as usual), on top of it I know nothing about vets and what they do and I know a cow from a horse, but basically not much more about them. So if I made any mistakes, you are allowed to laugh at me :)

This night so didn’t go as planned. Merlin had been waiting for Arthur to pick him up at the clinic for a nice romantic dinner when the call came. He didn’t bother to change back into his work clothes, just tossed the jacket of his suit and his tie onto the back seat of his old estate and drove out to the farm. He texted Arthur that he was out there when he arrived, put on the wellies he always had in the back of the car and grabbed his bag.

Farmer Johnson was already waiting for him and together they went to look after the beautiful brown and white cow who was about to give birth. But something was wrong and by the time Arthur arrived, Merlin had already put on all the necessary protective clothes, including an arm-length rubber glove and had his hand inside the cow almost up to his shoulder, trying to turn the calf into the right position. 

“Merlin!”

He heard Arthur’s voice, but didn’t answer, this was a critical point and Merlin didn’t need any distractions. 

“Keep the dog out of the way, he’s making Myrtle even more nervous!” The farmer glared at Arthur.

Merlin made a mental note to lecture Arthur on bringing Gwenny out here later but then finally got a hold of the calf and started to move it. 

“Arthur,” he pressed out between gritted teeth. Freya had to attend some family thing and they needed every hand they could get. “Grab the tail and hold it out of the way!”

After a moment of hesitation, Arthur did as he was told and Merlin would have laughed about the scene if he weren’t too busy. 

It took a lot of pulling and holding and helping, but finally the calf was out. 

“Well done, Doc!” Farmer Johnson patted Myrtle’s neck while Merlin did all he still had to do. 

He nodded at the old farmer and smiled when the little creature he had helped showed all the natural signs and didn’t seem to require his interference any longer. He removed the glove carefully. “What a beautiful little bull, you can be proud of them.”

“He wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you. I’ll name him after you if that’s alright, Doc.”

Merlin bit back a chuckle and turned to Arthur. “It’s over. Congratulations on your first birth.”

Arthur was a bit pale around the nose. He swallowed hard but didn’t take his eyes off of Merlin. “That’s what you do all day long?”

“I’m a vet, you know that.”

“Yes, someone who helps little dogs who ate baubles and who cures kittens and gives hamsters some shots and…”

“And I do this. Cows and horses are animals, too.”

“Gosh, Merlin, you look hot like this.”

Merlin was just about to take his plastic apron off that bore all kinds of animal body fluids. “You’re sick.” He shook his head. 

“No, that’s not what I mean. It’s…you’re a hero. You saved this little cow’s life. And the big one’s probably, too. You knew what to do and how to do it and…that’s pretty fricking hot if you ask me.”

Merlin grinned. “By the way, you can let go now, you know? But…”

Before he could warn Arthur, who let go of the tail he was still holding, the cow flicked the tail and hit Arthur across the chest. He jumped back and out of the box where Gwenny was wagging her tail frantically, happy to see him.

“Not funny! So not funny!” Arthur made a face. “This is disgusting. I can toss the jacket out!”

“It’s just blood and shit, no need to burn down the house.” Merlin grinned.

“It was brand new!”

“You’ve been wearing it at least for an hour, so it wasn’t brand new anymore.”

Merlin turned back to the farmer with some last instructions he wouldn’t have needed since the old man knew how to handle his cows, grabbed his bag and looked at Arthur, who untied Gwenny (who showed a lot of interest in the baby claf, much to the dismay of mama cow) and ruffled the fur on her back. “Are you coming?”

When they left the stable and Merlin tossed his bag into the trunk of his car, Arthur cleared his throat. 

“You know…the dinner tonight…”

Merlin sighed. “I’m sorry, Arthur, but this was important. I can’t go out to dinner with you and endanger those I swore to protect. It’s my job.”

“I know. You ran out often enough and now that I’ve seen what you can do…I mean it, you’re a hero. But that’s not what I was trying to say.”

Merlin looked at him questioningly as Arthur stood there and looked utterly adorable in his almost-new North Face jacket that bore just as many marks of the birth they had been through like Merlin’s suit pants. 

“It wasn’t just a normal dinner. At least I…Merlin, will you marry me?”

That took Merlin totally by surprise. He had made crazy plans of proposing to Arthur himself and for a short moment he had pondered doing it at their dinner but then didn’t have the time to get a decent ring. “I…Arthur, don’t do this because of what you experienced tonight. It’s…”

“No,” Arthur shook his head, “it’s not that, it’s…I had planned this for weeks. I mean it. Marry me.”

A huge smile spread across Merlin’s face. 

“Is that a ‘yes’?” Arthur smiled, too.

“Under two conditions.” 

Merlin’s face turned into a smirk while Arthur’s fell. “Conditions?”

“You’re going to wash Gwenny as soon as we get home and if I ever see you wipe your hands on our girl again, it means instant divorce.”

Arthur laughed and pulled Merlin close. “Anything for you.” And then he kissed him deeply.


	7. In sickness and in health

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin is sick and has two someones taking good care of him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And again, not beta'd, but you know that by now :)

Merlin sniffed but even though his vision was blurring, he continued to work. He had felt a bit odd when he got up in the morning, but there were patients waiting for him, he couldn’t stay at home. 

Smiling at the little girl and handing her hamster back, Merlin turned to sneeze.

“You should go home and lie down, Merlin.” Freya threw him a concerned look. 

“I’m fine. Don’t worry. And by the way, the waiting room is full, I can’t just leave.”

“That’s just a few bandages to change, I can handle that.” Freya handed him a tissue when he sneezed again.

Later, he didn’t know how he got home and into bed. His memory played a little film of a huge bloke dragging him to his car and Freya pulling his shoes off but that couldn’t be. 

“Hey,” Arthur greeted him softly.

“Wha…?”

“Shhh, lie back.” Arthur felt his forehead again. “Seems like the fever is going down a bit, but you shouldn’t be up and about.”

“I need to…” Merlin tried to sit up but slumped back into the pillows when the world started to turn around him. “Whoa…”

“Anything else but needing to use the bathroom is cancelled.”

“Dizzy.”

Arthur put a cool wet cloth on Merlin’s forehead. “I told you that sitting with the Smitherton boy in the rain for hours wasn’t healthy.”

The Smitherton boy, Eddie…Merlin had sat with him when they had to put down his foal when it broke its leg on one of the meadows away from the farm house. It had broken Merlin’s heart and he just couldn’t leave the sobbing boy alone. 

“Sitting in the rain doesn’t make people sick.” Merlin’s throat hurt and he could hardly get the words out.

Arthur handed him a glass of cooling chamomile tea and helped him take a few sips. “But they make them more sensitive for anything that they might have already caught.” He got up and found Merlin’s favorite sweatshirt as Merlin started to shiver violently. 

“Here. Let me help you put this on, then I’ll get you another blanket. If this fever doesn’t go down by tonight, I’ll call old Doc Gaius.”

His head hurt and he was so cold, even though his forehead was sweaty. Normally, Merlin would have protested loudly against Arthur putting additional socks on him and wrapping him in blankets but now he just was too weak. 

Merlin didn’t know how long he was out and that he had phases where he kicked the blankets aside only to start shivering again. He heard voices but wasn’t sure if they were real and he couldn’t finish a single thought, even thinking was too exhausting.

Slowly waking up, he noticed something soft and warm pressed to his side. Merlin opened an eye and found Gwenny on the bed next to him. She had moved in as close as possible, watching him with a worried look on her handsome dog-face. 

He wanted to tell her that she was a good girl, watching over him, but his voice didn’t work. Even though he felt a bit better, his throat hurt and his head felt like he was wading through wet cotton. 

Gwenny jumped off the bed and ran out only to come back with Arthur a few moments later.

Arthur sat down on the edge of the bed. “Welcome back.”

“I…” Even that was inaudible and caused Merlin to cough.

“Don’t speak. Doc Gaius said this will take a while. It’s one of those pesky flus going around and it seems like you have a…how did he put it, Gwenny? ‘the nicest laryngitis he’s seen in a while’. You better not speak, it’s not good for your vocal chords.”

“Bu…” Merlin tried to scramble up a bit.

“Freya is taking care of the things she can do. Du Lac from Eastville takes over the emergencies, everything has been taken care of. You’ve been out for two days.” Arthur helped Merlin drink some tea. “Do you think we can change your t-shirts now?” When Merlin tried to speak again, he handed him a notepad and a pen.

“Okay, bathroom it is. All careful.” 

Merlin hated to be so dependent on Arthur. He hated that he was too weak to get up on his own and that he was totally worn out when he slumped down on the toilet. But he didn’t even muster a grumpy look when Arthur pulled the sweaty shirts over his head to quickly replace them with fresh ones. He leaned heavily onto him on the way back and immediately closed his eyes again as soon as his body touched the bed again. Yes, he hated this, but he loved Arthur for doing it. Arthur wasn’t the type of caring person. At least not when it came to changing wet cloths on fevery foreheads and sweaty t-shirts and sweatpants. 

“Freya brought some chicken soup. I’ll warm it up for you. Rest for a while.”

He didn’t feel like having soup or doing anything else but sleeping, but he knew Arthur wouldn’t have it if he didn’t even try the soup. When Merlin felt Arthur gently brushing some hair off his forehead, he opened his eyes and tried to smile. 

“Want Gwenny to keep you company? She didn’t leave your side for more than a few minutes in days anyway.” Arthur smiled at him. 

After another coughing fit, Merlin managed a nod. He had seen her following them and standing at the foot of the bed, closely observing them. As soon as he nodded, she jumped up and curled up next to him. His fingers in her fur, he fell asleep again.


	8. Notes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin still can't talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not beta'd. :)

When Merlin wasn’t sleeping, he just hated the situation. He felt better but still wasn’t fit enough to go back to work. His voice wasn’t back and his throat hurt when he was just breathing, let alone coughing. Each time a coughing fit shook him, Gwenny first hid behind the arm chair and then peeked out to check if he was alright before she hopped up onto the couch with him again, where he made camp since staying in bed bored him out of his mind. 

Reaching for his tea, Merlin found the mug empty. It must be magic. Each time he wanted a drink, the tea was gone. Evil magic! Arthur rummaged in the kitchen, probably heating up something that Freya had brought over or Gwaine or whoever of their friends who was able to cook something edible. Merlin was too tired to get up and he couldn’t yell, so he reached for the notepad. 

Gwenny blinked when Merlin fastened the note on her collar and pointed towards the kitchen but then trotted towards Arthur. Maybe he had a treat for her when she delivered the message?

She came back not long after and Merlin removed the note, sighing. She might not have understood what he wanted from her or Arthur hadn’t seen his note? But then he smiled. Underneath his scribbled “Could you make some tea, please?”, Arthur had scribbled “Earl Grey or herbs?”. 

Merlin stroked Gwenny’s head, wrote ‘Herbs, please’ and sent her to Arthur again. He grinned. She walked straighter and with a bit more determination than before. Obviously she understood that she was doing something important.

“Coming right up.” was the next message Gwenny brought back. She eyed the couch and then Merlin, but he sent her back with another message.

He closed his eyes, waiting for Arthur and pondered how he could ever make up for all that Arthur had done for him in the past two weeks. Maybe he could take him away for a little holiday over the weekend once he was healthy again? Or he could finally get the rings they wanted to exchange but didn’t have the time to get? When he could open his eyes again for longer than ten minutes, he would look for nice ones online.

He woke up when Gwenny flomped down next to him and put her head on his hip. Most likely she had been standing in front of the couch for a while and decided she could as well lie down while she waited. Stroking her head, he removed the paper from her collar and read the note.

“Love you, too.” In Arthur’s almost girlish handwriting.

Merlin smiled when Arthur came into the room just at that moment with a tray and the fresh tea.


	9. Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Gwenny steps on a thorn, trouble in paradise is on the horizon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why should this one be beta'd if the others weren't....

Merlin didn’t really notice that Arthur came to the clinic more often lately. In the beginning, he thought it was because motherhen!Arthur needed to see that he was okay again. There was a lot of work waiting for him. Vet Du Lac had taken over the emergencies and Freya had been wonderful, but there was only so much she could do. 

Arthur was leaning against the doorframe when Merlin calmed a little kitten down that had scratched everyone who tried to touch her. 

“Will you be home for dinner?”

Checking the kitten’s teeth, Merlin found what the issue was and nodded. “Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Arthur, I’m sure.” Merlin didn’t even look up and asked Freya for a tincture to apply to the little one’s gums.

“As sure as yesterday where I had to drag you out of here two hours after closing time?”

“Arthur, there are a lot of things I have missed while I was sick. I need to…”

“…be home for dinner.” Freya finished the sentence and winked at Arthur. “I’ll make sure to shoo him out on time.”

“Thanks, Freya.” Arthur smiled.

“Can we stop teaming up against me and concentrate back on the task at hand?” Merlin rolled his eyes. He knew his fiancé and friends meant well, but he had only had a flu and now he was fit again. 

+++

“Gwenny, Gwen, come here!” Merlin frowned and went after the dog who had yelped loudly and limped away.

Arthur followed them. “What’s wrong with her?”

Kneeling next to the dog, Merlin tried to examine her. “Hold still, girl, I’m trying to help you. What is it? Did you step on something?”

Arthur was on his knees, too, trying to stroke Gwenny’s head, holding her in place, but she wiggled about and yelped in pain each time Merlin tried to touch her paw. “She won’t…Merlin, do something!”

Closing his eyes Merlin spread his fingers out over Gwenny’s back. When he opened them again, they glowed golden and he whispered words in a language Arthur didn’t know. Gwenny calmed immediately and Merlin could examine her paw. 

“A thorn…and what a great place to catch it, girl, no wonder it hurts so much. This might take a while.” He managed to remove the offender and wrapped a few paper tissues around the paw and then fastened a little plastic bag that he still had in his pocket around it. He looked up. “We need to get her out of here. I have to disinfect this. Can you get up, girl?”

Gwenny whimpered but managed to scramble up and hop on three legs. 

Merlin only had eyes for the dog and didn’t notice that Arthur was throwing him looks.

+++

Gwenny slept on her blanket, her hurt paw wrapped neatly while Merlin sipped his tea and went over the mail they had taken along from the clinic when he felt Arthur’s stare.

He looked up. “Arthur.” His smile faltered when he saw the look on Arthur’s eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Why are you keeping secrets, Merlin? I thought we had something, I thought we trusted each other.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Even now you won’t admit it! When we first came into your clinic I thought I imagined things, I was so confused and worried. But I’ve seen you do it again and again.”

“Doing what?” Merlin had no idea what Arthur was talking about.

“Magic.”

“Oh, that.”

“Oh, that? That’s all you have to say? We’re together for almost two years, we’re living together for one, we’re about to get married and you don’t deem it necessary to inform me that you are magic?”

“Arthur…I…it’s not that important. It’s just something I am. And my magic only works on animals anyway. I can calm them down, I don’t need x-rays to find things out, the beloved pets die of old age because I can help them.”

“And you do your magic on the owners, too!”

“I’ve tried, it never really works. I’m good with animals, my magic doesn’t do anything else.”

Arthur crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked down. 

“Arthur!” Merlin got up and stepped close. “I’m sorry I’m not the hero you thought I was. It’s not my fault that I have magic, I was born that way. From a very early age on, I healed birds and squirrels and bugs…it’s the gift I got, I need to use it. I didn’t keep that from you on purpose. I didn’t even think about keeping it from you. For me, it’s as normal as breathing, I just didn’t think about it at all.”

Arthur looked up again. “Only on animals?”

“You…” Merlin stared. “You thought I’d use it on you? Arthur!”

“Humans are just animals, too.” Arthur drew a deep breath. 

Merlin felt his world crumble away as he shook his head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think it would make any difference. It sure doesn’t for me. I love you and that has nothing to do with my magic!”

When Arthur didn’t say anything, Merlin felt the tears in his eyes. “Did I ever do anything that makes you think that I used magic on you? I only ever used it to help animals. Yes, Gwenny, when you brought her in. I’d had to sedate her if it weren’t for my magic and that’s not as easy on such small bodies as everyone tries to make you think. Arthur, I can’t even magic up tea when my cup is empty, I have to use our dog as messenger, remember?”

Arthur took a deep breath. “It might take a while until I get used to the thought.”

Carefully, Merlin wrapped his arms around Arthur’s waist. “Never doubt that I love you.”

“I…I didn’t. It’s just…I was brought up thinking that magic was humbug and if there was something like magic, it was evil. And now…” Arthur looked into Merlin’s eyes. “Now I fall in love with the only magical being in town.” He smiled carefully. 

“Only now?” Merlin’s eyes twinkled.

“You had me at ‘how can I…’.” Arthur wrapped his arms around Merlin.

“Shouldn’t that be ‘You had me at ‘hello’?” Merlin leaned in.

Arthur smiled. “Those were the first words you said to me. You never said ‘hello’.” He closed the remaining space between them and let Merlin kiss him reassuringly.


	10. On the beach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Merlin and Arthur finally go on vacation, not everything goes as planned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yet again, not beta'd.

Merlin enjoyed the waves around them and the sand under his feet as he wrapped his arms around Arthur and kissed him. This was the vacation they both deserved. After he finally had everything back under control at the clinic after his illness, the short period where things had been a bit odd before Arthur finally believed that his magic didn’t affect him and the release of Arthur’s book and the following promo tour around the country, they finally found the time to get away. 

Gwenny had fun on the beach, running about, digging holes, fighting long strands of kelp and she made the acquaintance of little sea creatures, chasing fish and getting pinched by a tiny crab. Other than that she barked at the waves or slept in the shade when she was tired.

Merlin loved his little family. Arthur hadn’t been so relaxed in ages and he managed to let go, too. They had had some awesome sex at the hotel but after a bottle of wine, Arthur was able to convince him that skinny dipping was the thing to do. Now they stood in the water, the waves gently caressing their bodies and Merlin thought this was the best kiss they had ever shared. 

“Do you think it was a good idea to leave Gwenny to guard our clothes?”

Arthur chuckled and pulled him closer. “You know how much she likes having an important job to do.” 

“She’ll probably sleep on them anyway.”

“Merlin, stop worrying, she’ll be fine.” 

Leaning in, Merlin nodded. “You’re right.”

A while later, after a lot of kissing and groping, chuckling and moaning, they made their way back to the beach. 

“Let’s get back to the hotel. If I can’t have you now, I’m going to explode.”

Merlin moaned when Arthur sucked up a hickey on his neck. “Nobody…damn this is good…nobody ever exploded from…”

“Shut up, Merlin.” Arthur grinned and let go of Merlin long enough to find his shorts in the pile they had left next to Gwenny, who seemed strangely unexcited that they were back.

“Oh no!” Merlin held up the shreds of fabric that once had been his favorite shorts. 

“What happened?” Arthur blinked and then threw Gwenny a look. “What did you do?”

Gwenny looked at him guiltily and carefully wagged her tail. She licked her mouth.

“Gwenny!” Merlin frowned. “They were for you, but did you have to shred my shorts to get to the treats?”

Arthur threw Merlin a side-ways look. “You left dog treats in your pocket and then asked her to guard the clothes?”

“They were vacuum sealed! She shouldn’t even have known they were there!”

“Merlin, she’s a dog. You of all people should know how great their sense of smell is!” Arthur looked at Gwenny again and then started to laugh. “I should let you walk up to the hotel like this, it’s your own fault!”

Merlin made a face. “Not funny!” He examined the remainders of the bag of treats. “She made short process with them, there’s not a single one left.”

“She ate a whole bag of treats?” Arthur looked worried when Gwenny whined.

Laughing when he found Arthur’s t-shirt and held it up, Merlin nodded. “And vomited them all over your shirt.” He didn’t know what was funnier – that their pup had shredded his shorts to get to the treats or that her stomach had decided to get rid of them again over Arthur’s shirt. 

“What kind of vet are you?” Arthur glared at the t-shirt. It had been one of his favorites. “You’re standing here while our girl suffers?”

“She’s done suffering, she overate, she vomited, she’s fine. It’s more us that suffer. My arse is getting cold.”

“We could burn the t-shirt to warm you up?”

Merlin rolled his eyes and groaned. “How about you go up to our room, get me another pair of shorts while I wait here and make sure that Gwenny is okay?”

“Do I get to warm you up later?”

Leaning in to put a smooch on the tip of Arthur’s nose, Merlin slapped his backside. “Off you go. We’ll talk about that later.”


	11. Scoop up the poop!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur and Merlin take Gwenny to the park for a walk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, this is all Merls' fault. She drew this [ Go, give her all the love!](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2859002/chapters/6926987)
> 
> And yeah, not beta'd, but you knew that already.

Merlin stood about, on the walkway through the park, looking bored. He didn’t need to watch Gwenny poop, the way Arthur did. 

“Just because you turn away doesn’t make what she left there go away. We need to scoop it up.” Arthur lectured, for the gazillionth time.

“But you don’t need to watch and cheer her on as if she’s doing the most awesome thing in the world.” Merlin made a face. “I don’t stand in the bathroom door and be your cheerleader when you’re on the loo, am I?”

Arthur laughed. “Would probably make being there a lot more interesting.”

“You’re sick, Pendragon.” Merlin rolled his eyes. 

“Gwaine always says to encourage the dogs when they do something right.”

Merlin threw him a side-ways look. “There’s a line between encouraging and being crazy. This is a bodily function, she can do that without your encouragement.”

Gwenny was done and scratched a bit on the ground before continuing to sniff around.

“Cleaning up after her has nothing to do with encouraging the wrong thing.” Arthur pulled a little bag out of the dispenser. “Here.”

Merlin raised an eyebrow. “Your dog. Your job.”

“Merlin! I can’t let you go to the park with her knowing that you won’t clean up after her!”

“I do clean up after her. I just don’t make such a big deal out of it.”

“Then do it!”

“Show me how.” Merlin smirked.

Arthur huffed, muttered something like “Why is she always my dog when it comes to cleaning up?” and stalked towards where Gwenny had done her business, not noticing that Merlin’s eyes flashed golden and he murmured some words. He looked around and then frowned over at Merlin.

“Everything okay there?” Merlin tried to hide a smirk.

“It’s…you saw her…she was right here…and now…oh!” Arthur came back. “You! You did something!”

“Me?” Merlin tried to look all innocent. 

“You used your magic again! You never told me you could do this!”

“Just found out the other day. And it still has to do with animals, so…” Merlin shrugged. 

“And you let me search for what she left and didn’t deem it necessary to inform me about your new powers?” Arthur frowned.

Merlin stepped close and tugged at Arthur’s scarf. “I wanted to make sure I really know how to master them.”

Arthur sighed. “Seems like you do.”

“Yes, seem like it.” Merlin leaned in and brushed his lips over Arthur’s. 

Only a while later, they noticed that Gwenny had dragged a large branch over and jumped around them barking excitedly.


	12. Two Merlins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gwenny accompanies Merlin on a house call and makes a new friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merls arted again! [Look at the two Merlins!](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2859002/chapters/6936422)
> 
> As expected, this is not beta'd.

Gwenny sniffed around excitedly, wagging her tail, once in a while running back to Merlin, who sat in the back of his rusty estate and put on his wellies.

“Yes, we’re going to visit the baby cow, Gwenny. Calm down or Farmer Johnson won’t let you into the stables.”

Obediently, she sat down and looked at him, her wagging tail a clear sign of her excitement. 

“Morning, Doc!” The old man showed up. 

“Good morning, Mr. Johnson. I’m just here to check on the little bull, I think Freya called to announce me?”

“Sure did. Nice girl. Heard she’s dating that student bloke? The tall one?”

Merlin nodded. “She’s the best help any vet could get.” He refused to gossip about Freya’s love life. He was happy for her being with Percy, since she was happy. Percy was a decent bloke and soon to be a vet, so what was not to like about him? “Is everything alright in the stables?”

“Oh, little bull is fine. Maybe you can take a look at one of the sheep later?”

“Sure. Come on, Gwenny, let’s visit the cows. Be careful and don’t get too close.”

“She’s a couch dog, she’s not used to being around cattle.” Farmer Johnson looked at her skeptically, but Gwenny just wagged her tail at him, staying at Merlin’s side as if she understood she needed to behave.

“I’ll take her back to the car as soon as we sense she can’t deal.”

“Just don’t let her make the cows nervous.” Farmer Johnson lead the way and Merlin followed, a happy Gwen at his side. 

“Wow, he has grown!” Merlin smiled when he saw the baby bull. “Let’s see if you are as healthy as you look, champ.” He put his bag down outside of the box. “Watch this, Gwenny.” Taking out a stethoscope, he pointed Gwenny to the bag again and then entered. 

Concentrating on his patient, Merlin tried to ignore how Gwenny peeked in and sniffed and tried to get the little bull’s attention. 

“There you go. Perfectly fine.” He patted the bull’s back and then leaned in. “You can go meet her, if you want. She’s been all excited to see you. You know, she was there when you were born.”

The little bull looked around a bit unsure, but then staggered towards where Gwenny peeked through the boards. When he was close, Gwenny sniffed and then licked his nose. The bull jumped away and mooed. 

Merlin grinned at the confused look on Gwenny’s face. “Guess that was a bit too much love for him. He’s not another dog, he doesn’t know what it means.”

Taking care of the other animals the farmer pointed out, Merlin kept an eye on Gwenny, but even though she sniffed here and there and eyed every creature with interest, she always looked back to where she knew the little bull was. 

When Merlin said good-bye to the farmer but took a detour on the way back to the car. “Say bye to your new friend, Gwenny. Don’t worry, we’ll come back in a few weeks.”

+++

 

Arthur brought out fresh tea to where Merlin was sitting and going over his schedule for the next day. “What did you do to her?”

Merlin looked up. “What?”

“Gwenny. She was all excited when she came back, running back and forth, looking for something. And now she’s all spent, sleeping on her blanket.”

“We’ve been out on the farm, there were a lot of new things for her. And she made a new friend.” 

“Oh? Who?”

“Merlin.”

Arthur blinked. “She already knows you.”

“Remember the little bull?”

“Oh! Of course.” Arthur smiled. That had been an exciting night and in the end, he’d proposed to Merlin. 

“Farmer Johnson named him after me. So now she has two Merlin-friends.” Merlin grinned. 

Arthur smiled. “Speaking of that night…I thought it might be time to set a date?”

Merlin looked up and his smile was blinding.


	13. Almost Superbowl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur wants to watch the semifinals and is looking forward to SuperBowl. Merlin decides he needs some sleep. Gwenny is not too happy about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta? What's that 'beta' you're talking about?
> 
> And yes, this is written while having a fever. It might be even more difficult to read than the other chapters.

Merlin yawned and stretched. „I’m going to bed, are you coming?“

Arthur threw him a look. “It’s the semi-finals. The one who wins the next game is in the Superbowl.”

Merlin got up, bent down and put a peck on Arthur’s forehead. “I have to be up in the morning.”

“Is it okay if I watched this? I can use the headphones?” 

Nodding, Merlin folded the blanket and put it on the back of the couch. “No need for the headphones, just enjoy the game.”

He padded to the bedroom and climbed into bed. Merlin didn’t really like sleeping alone anymore, but this situation wasn’t new either. Sometimes Arthur had fits of creativity, scribbling down new ideas for his novels or typing away on his laptop all night long. More than once, Merlin had found him in the morning, a pencil still behind his ear, his glasses still on his nose, sound asleep. He also knew how important American football was for him. Merlin wasn’t too much into it, but it was nice to watch with friends once in a while and he was looking forward to the Superbowl, too, just a bit more to the party than to the actual game. 

Once he was comfortable, he switched off the lights and closed his eyes, but he couldn’t help but smiling. Each time they spent the night in different parts of the house, Gwenny would pad back and forth, a bit confused and with the need to make sure all of her loved ones were okay. So now she stood in front of the bed and looked at him. Opening one eye, Merlin noticed he was right. “Night, Gwenny,” he whispered, patted her head and pulled the blanket over his shoulder.

Of course, as always when Arthur was not by his side, Merlin woke up a few times, taking the opportunity to get something to drink or use the loo. The first time he passed the couch, at around 2 am, Arthur had gotten comfy, with his feet up on seats, still avidly watching the game. The second time, it was somewhere near 3, Arthur had slid down a bit and Merlin knew he had a hard time keeping his eyes open. His questions about who was winning and if the game was thrilling were answered with a short team name and a grunt, so he smiled and went back to bed, followed by Gwenny.

“Go to your bed, Gwenny, just sleep. Everything is okay, Arthur just wants to watch the game.”

Gwenny looked at him uncertainly but padded out of the bedroom. 

The next time Merlin woke up, he heard that the game was over, but Arthur made no sound and Gwenny was nowhere to be seen. So he got up and grinned when he entered the living room. Arthur was on his side and pulled his knees up a bit, sound asleep, and Gwenny had snuck into the room behind Arthur’s calves, resting her head on Arthur’s thigh. Merlin knew that Arthur would wake up as soon as he switched off the TV, so he just turned the sound down a bit more and went to get Arthur’s duvet. 

Gwenny watched him closely but didn’t move. Only when he spread the duvet over the both of them, she crawled out from underneath, grumbled and found her position on top of the blanket again. 

Merlin smiled and went back to bed.


	14. The intern

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy works as intern at the clinic. Arthur doesn't like the situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta'd? Buaaaaaaaahahahahahaha.
> 
> And yes, I'm still running a fever, what's your excuse? ;D

Merlin smiled when he squeezed through the small place still left by Percy. For the next couple of weeks, Freya’s boyfriend worked at the clinic as part of his studies and Merlin was happy that he had offered him the position. Percy might have been huge, but he was gentle and very good when it came to animals and their anxious owners. He asked the right questions, learned quickly and was nice to be around. Percy was sweet with Freya, but they didn’t overdo it and stayed very professional during opening hours. The only issue was that the examination room was not overly large and even though both of them were slim, Percy took up a lot of space, so squeezing past him was sometimes the only option. 

“Hi.”

Merlin looked up. “Arthur! What are you doing here?”

Gwenny, who had accompanied Arthur, came over and greeted both Merlin and Percy, wagging her tail excitedly.

“We’ve been on a walk and thought we’d come by to see if you might have time for a coffee?”

Looking apologetic, Merlin shook his head. “The waiting room is full and after two weeks, I can’t leave Percy alone. No offense meant, Perce, but…”

“Oh, don’t worry,” the large man replied. “I still need to learn a lot.”

Arthur threw him a dark look. “Come on, Gwenny, let’s go, we’re disturbing…”

“I’ll be home by five, I think.” Merlin called after him, but Arthur had already left.

+++

Merlin frowned when he opened the door a few minutes before five. “Arthur?”

Gwenny came running to greet him, but Arthur was nowhere to be seen. “Where’s Arthur, Gwenny?”

She barked and ran to the living room. Merlin followed. “Hi, love. How was your day?”

Arthur didn’t look up.

Blinking, Merlin searched Arthur’s face. “What’s wrong? Are you alright?”

“Yeah.”

Gwenny sat between them, looking from one to the other and whined softly.

“No, you are not. Tell me. What’s wrong?”

Arthur didn’t say anything in a while. “You seem to be very cozy with this Percy-bloke.”

Merlin blinked again. “I don’t understand…”

“I’ve been at the clinic every day since he started and every time you are too busy for a coffee and smiling at him and being in his personal space and you don’t seem to mind that he is in yours.” 

“Arthur, he is an intern, he needs guidance and if I left him alone with the patients and he made a mistake, it would fall back on me. I can’t just run out while he’s there. He’s good, he has the right feeling for the pets, he will be a good vet one day. But for now, I just can’t let him work on his own. That would mean letting him down, too.”

Arthur huffed.

“We talked about that before I offered the position to him. You knew that the next couple of weeks would be a bit more stressful and that I have to work concentrated to pass on some of my knowledge.” Merlin couldn’t believe it. They had discussed this for days and actually he had been the one who had been worried about the time-management and the attention this would take away from their home while Arthur had been all for it. 

“I know.”

“But now you’re not happy with it?” Merlin searched Arthur’s face, trying to hold his gaze and not laughing at the little pout on Arthur’s face. 

“Not really. He’s…” Arthur looked up, “have you seen these arms?”

“They are hard to miss. Especially when they are wrapped around Freya.” Merlin smiled. 

“He’s…”

“Straight. Arthur, I’m flattered.”

Arthur frowned. “What? Why?”

“You know he’s with Freya and even you have commented on how sweet they are together. And still you’re jealous.”

“’m not!”

Merlin moved over and sat next to Arthur. “You are and it’s very endearing. But you have nothing to worry about. I only need one person in my life and that person is you.”

“But…”

“Not bad if butt is involved, too…” Merlin grinned and closed the space between them, kissing Arthur gently. 

First, Arthur was a bit passive, but then he kissed back and leaned against Merlin when Merlin’s hand came up behind his neck. 

“Hey, tell you what.” Merlin smiled when they finally broke for air. “I’ll ask Du Lac to take over the emergencies on the weekend and we’ll just stay in bed?”

Arthur sniffed. “All weekend?”

“All weekend. Just you and me.”

“And Gwenny.”

“She’ll probably enjoy a weekend in Gwaine’s pack?”

“So we won’t even have to get up to walk her?”

“That’s the idea.”

Arthur buried his face against Merlin’s neck. “I’d love that.”

Merlin smiled and already thought of a few things he would do to Arthur to make him see that there was nobody else.


	15. Skinny jeans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin models a new pair of jeans he's not entirely sure about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written live in chat. Merls-approved. And not beta'd. :)

Merlin eyed himself in the floor-length mirror. These new jeans were a bit tight, weren't they?  
He turned this way and that and made a face.

Gwenny padded in, sniffed at the leg of the jeans and sat down, looking expectantly at him.

“Are you sure, Gwenny?" Merlin frowned.

The dog tilted her head and wagged her tail tentatively.

"Talking to Gwenny again?" Arthur appeared in the doorframe of their bedroom and pulled his glasses off his nose.

"She's my shopping advisor. But I think we should agree on my sending them back." Merlin ran his hand over the back pocket.

Arthur looked at Merlin, moved his hand in a circle to make Merlin spin and then shook his head. "Don't think so."

“You don't? They are a bit tight. Like here." Merlin pointed to his groin. "And on my backside."

Arthur looked again. "Looks perfectly fine to me."

"But I can't go out in the streets in these!"

"No need to. You can wear them here."

Merlin’s eyebrows rose. "Why would I wear tight jeans around the house?"

Arthur exchanged a look with Gwenny, who almost rolled her eyes just as he did, set his glasses down and stepped close. "I think I need to show you why."

Merlin groaned when Arthur pushed him back onto the bed and started undoing the zipper.

He wriggled when Arthur pulled the tight jeans down. This was much easier when he was wearing sweatpants or his old baggy pants that fell down if you just looked at them the right way.

"Next time, you're going commando, it makes things easier" Arthur whispered against his hip-bone.

Merlin didn't care. Arthur had taken to jump him a lot more around the house since Percy was at the clinic and who was he to complain?

Arthur fumbled for lube and it was a good thing they always stored it in the exact same place since thinking was a bit difficult when they were this far.

Merlin pulled at Arthur's shirt and tossed it aside.

He yelled out when he first felt fingers and then Arthur's cock not long after.

He loved when Arthur got all possessive and enjoyed the hard rhythm he set, the sucking on his throat, the marking. He moved with Arthur and yelped when Arthur changed the angle a bit to hit his spot a bit better.

“Yeah...right there...come on...give it to me...." 

Merlin knew he was babbling nonsense but didn't mind a bit, it was what Arthur was doing to him and he loved every second. 

Arthur got up a bit more on his knees and held Merlin's legs in a V and pounded into him with as much force as he could muster.

Merlin fisted the sheets. He knew he didn't need to have his cock touched, he would come in no time like this. 

"Merl..." Arthur grunted and Merlin knew that he was close, too, so the next time Arthur dove in, he didn't hold back any longer.

Arthur followed him suit and slumped down on him, panting into his neck.

They both chuckled when Gwenny barked. 

"You...you explain that to your dog." Merlin pressed out between panting and chuckling.

"She should be used to it by now." Arthur grinned, put a kiss on Merlin's shoulder and rolled over. 

Merlin made a little disappointed sound like always when Arthur slipped out.

"Yeah, but it kind of scares her."

Arthur lifted his head and gave Gwenny a sign to come closer. He stroked her head and ears. "All is fine. Don't worry."

Gwenny looked from one to the other with a soft whine, then decided to take advantage of the situation and hopped up on the bed, getting comfy right in between them.

Merlin chuckled and ruffled her fur. "All is good, girl."

She sniffed at his neck and then licked the salty sweat off his skin which made him laugh and shove her away a bit.

"So?" Arthur asked

"What so?"

"Are they keepers?"

Merlin mock-groaned. "They so are!"


	16. New friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Merlin is not happy that Arthur dumped Gwenny at Gwaine's, Gwenny makes a new friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little something. And no, I won't start having these beta'd now ;)

Merlin zipped his jacket up before he entered the fenced area. Gwenny dashed towards him, breaked like a cartoon character and of course right in the middle of a puddle, leaving Merlin covered in muddy splatters. She barked excitedly and ran away again.

“Merlin!” Gwaine came over and nodded. “Glad you could make it.”

“Yes, sorry, I’ve tried to be here for the training, but today all of Camelot decided that their pets needed to be checked.” He shrugged apologetically. 

“Don’t worry, she was a doll.”

“Where’s Arthur?”

“He had an appointment or something.” Gwaine shrugged.

Merlin blinked. Arthur wanted to take Gwenny here and when Merlin was done at the clinic, he wanted to meet them here. Now Arthur was nowhere to be seen. “He just leaves our girl with you?”

Gwaine laughed at the look on Merlin’s face. “He did, fully well knowing that I’m an evil dog mass-murderer and can’t be trusted!”

Smiling, Merlin shook his head. “Not what I mean and you know that.”

“I won’t charge you extra for that, don’t worry. By the way, Gwenny made a new friend.” Gwaine pointed over to where Gwen was trying to get a large black Labrador to play with her.

Merlin nodded. “Okay, who is he and can at least _he_ be trusted?”

A tall man with dark hair and brown eyes came over. “I sure hope so.” He grinned. “Hi, Merlin.”

“Lucas!” Merlin shook hands with the other vet. “New addition to your family?”

“I guess so.” Lucas Du Lac, the vet from East End, grinned. “Lance was an emergency. Classic stupid story. The kids got their elderly mother a dog so she wouldn’t be alone, not considering that a Lab would probably grow up to be too much for the old lady to handle. Now she had to move to a home and asked me to find a new home for him. Harold tolerates him and he was so confused that I think it wouldn’t do him any good to give him to a new home.”

Merlin grinned. Lucas was known for his little ‘zoo’ of pets that nobody else still wanted. “He’s a beauty.”

“Gwenny seems to think so, too.” They turned and watched their dogs run and bark, playfully fight over a branch and get even more dirty on the soft muddy ground, if that was even possible. 

Gwaine went to talk to other dog owners who watched their pups and Merlin and Lucas talked shop, asking each other’s opinions and Merlin agreed to come look at one of Lucas’ special cases. 

“So, where’s that husband of yours?” 

Merlin smiled. Even though they liked to pretend that everything had gone totally smoothly, there had been quite some talk in town and some people telling him to his face that they wouldn’t allow him to touch their pets again if he kept on being ‘one of those digusting ones’. It was good to know that some people approved and that some just didn’t care what he did at home. Lucas had been one of the first ones to congratulate him when he accidentally mentioned the proposal. 

“Actually,” Merlin frowned, “I wanted to meet him here. Gwaine said, he needed to go to some appointment. Dunno, maybe I just forgot something he said.” He shrugged.

Just then, Arthur came in. “Hi, everyone.” 

Merlin threw him a sideways look. “There you are. What was so important?”

Arthur shook hands with Lucas and then kissed Merlin’s cheek. “The location we contacted the other day? They called and asked if we could come over right away.”

“Why didn’t you…”

“I knew you were busy. I thought I would go, look at it and if it’s anything like we wanted, we could go back again together.”

Merlin tried hard not to pout; they wanted to prepare their wedding together and now Arthur had gone alone. “So? When will we go back?”

“Not at all.” Arthur shook his head. Before Merlin could protest and claim that he had a say in this, too, he continued. “They don’t allow dogs.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, oh. I crossed them off the list.” 

Merlin nodded. “Okay.” Good, a venue that didn’t allow their precious girl and her friends in wasn’t a good place. No way would they leave her with someone else on such an important day. 

Gwenny came running to greet Arthur and covered him, too, in mud. 

Lucas, who looked just as muddy as they did, laughed. “You were too clean.”

Arthur chuckled. “I should have known to change before I enter here. Can we go home now, Gwenny?”

The pup looked at him and then at her new friend and whined. 

“You can play again on Tuesday, if Lance will be here.” Merlin hung the leash around his neck and looked at Lucas.

“Who am I to interrupt such an instant friendship. Of course we will be here, won’t we, Lance?” He ruffled his dog’s fur.

Gwenny didn’t follow as willingly as usual, stopping every few steps and looking back at the black Labrador and Merlin sighed.

“What?” Arthur opened the door of the car.

“I think your dog is in love.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's not all rainbows and roses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry. Don't know why this turned out so sad.

Merlin shook his head and slowly took the rubber gloves off. 

“But…”

“Let him go, Percy. You did all you could do, you were great. But the injuries were too bad.”

“What if I…”

“It’s too late, Percy. Take a moment.”

Merlin remembered well how he felt when he lost his first patient and thought he knew what Percy was going through. The accident had happened just a street down from the clinic and Percy had been on his way to work. He’d done everything possible but it had been too late.

“Anything you can tell me, Doc?”

“Since when do you call me ‘Doc’, Officer Smith?” Merlin smiled tiredly at his old friend Elyan. It was part of his job, but it was difficult each and every time.

“Okay, is there anything you can tell me, Merlin?”

Shaking his head, Merlin stepped closer. “The injuries were too bad, the dog didn’t make it.”

“Was there a tag on the collar? Was he chipped?”

“Unfortunately not. And I’ve never seen this dog before. Either he was new in town or a stray. I’m sorry that I can’t be of more help.”

“And the other doc?” Elyan nodded towards the examination room.

“Percy is my intern. He’ll be a good vet one day, but I think this was the first time he saw that this job is not all curing kittens and clipping claws. Give him a minute, he’ll be right there, answering your questions. Why don’t you have a coffee while you wait?”

+++

“You all were so excited when you finally found a shirt for Percy. Is it really okay for you that he ripped the sleeves out?” Arthur looked after Freya and her boyfriend leaving. 

“He tried to stop the bleeding on a dog.”

“Did it help?”

“No.” Merlin grabbed his backpack and closed up.

“Oh. Are you okay?”

“Can we just go home so I can hug our girl?”

“Sure.”


	18. Doubt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin notices a change in Arthur.

Freya held a mug of tea out to Merlin. „They seem to get along well lately.” She smiled.

Merlin took the mug and sipped before he looked up from the file. “Thanks. Who?”

“Percy and Arthur.” She nodded over to the examination room where Arthur was leaning against the counter and seemed to be in an animated discussion with Percy. “In the beginning I thought he didn’t like him.”

Merlin smiled back. “Tell you a secret. He was just a bit jealous.”

“Jealous?” Freya blinked. “Oh! He thought that…”

“Come on, your boyfriend is a looker.” He grinned when Freya threw him a look. “But everyone can see that he only has eyes for you.” 

The wide smile was back on Freya’s face. “Life is good.”

“I’m happy for you.”

The door opened and the next patient came in, so they turned back to work. 

+++

Gwenny and Lance ran about, playfully chasing each other, barking and most of the time plain ignoring all the other dogs. 

Merlin leaned against the fence but didn’t really see them. 

“A million miles away…” Gwaine nudged Merlin’s arm. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. It’s…”

“Okay, what did he do?”

“What? Who?”

“You only look like that when Arthur did something you don’t like. Wanna spill it now or do we have to go for a drink tonight?” Gwaine crossed his arms in front of his chest and flicked his hair back.

“It’s just…” Gwenny came running, wagged her tail at Merlin to show him she hadn’t forgotten about him and then dashed away again. “He’s out a lot lately. Spending a lot of time in the gym and such…”

“And what’s wrong about that?”

“I don’t know, he’s not the type to work out like that all the time.” Merlin shrugged.

“We all get to an age where getting rid of the lasagna from last night takes a bit more than washing it down with a beer…”

Huffing out a chuckle, Merlin shook his head. “Don’t let him hear that you think he’s getting fat.”

“Sore spot?” Gwaine laughed.

Merlin nodded. “Yup. But…you know…he seems to be very friendly with Percy lately. Even Freya noticed that.”

“Percy?” Gwaine laughed even harder. “Then you have nothing to worry, my friend. Percy is as straight as they get.”

“I know. But…you never know, you know?”

Gwaine pulled Merlin in for a one-armed hug. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about. I shouldn’t be telling you, but he showed me pictures of rings when he was here with Gwenny yesterday. He’s really putting in some extra effort to find the special ones.” He went to put some things onto the area to prepare for the agility training that followed the play hour.

Merlin looked after him, deep in thought.


	19. Green eyed monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin is JEALOUS!!!! (capital letters, exlamation marks and all!)

Merlin couldn’t help it. As soon as Arthur was back and had barely set his workout-bag down, he grabbed him and pressed him against the door, kissing him hard and demanding.

“Mmmmmmm…Merl…damn…what’s…”

But he didn’t give Arthur much time to say anything as he maneuvered them into the bedroom where he shoved their sweatpants down and took Arthur as soon as he had him relaxed enough. He pounded into him with all the force he could muster and it didn’t take long for either of them to cry out their orgasms. 

Rolling over, Merlin stared at the ceiling. What the fuck had he just done? Just because Arthur had been to the gym again didn’t mean…correction: Arthur had been working out with Percy again. In the past weeks, Arthur had spent more and more time at the gym. Very often, he’d dropped Gwenny off at Gwaine’s just to have time for lifting weights and checking out other guys.

Merlin was at the end of his wits. He had tried to make Arthur see that he didn’t need to work out so hard, that he was perfect the way he was. Then he had offered to come along and in the end, he had asked Arthur to run stupid little errands so he wouldn’t find enough time for a work-out with Percy. But there was no denying, Arthur spent hours and hours with Percy. 

“Wow,” Arthur was still trying to catch his breath. “If that’s what I get for working out, I should work out harder.” He chuckled.

Merlin sat up, grabbed his sweatpants and t-shirt and got up.

“Where are you going?” Arthur smiled at him and Merlin would have loved to crawl back to snuggle up to him, but he just couldn’t. How dare Arthur smile at him like that after what had happened?

“Walking the dog.”

He toed into his shoes, grabbed his jacket, whistled for Gwenny and left.


	20. Leon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin gets new fodder for his jealousy

Merlin played with Gwenny’s soft ear as they waited for their turn. Gwenny whined softly and pressed her head against his leg. They spent way too much time here at the dog school lately but since Arthur hadn’t given up working out like a madman, Merlin had a lot of spare time on his hands. And Gwenny liked it here. 

Gwaine was busy with some new dogs. “It doesn’t make sense to try to do that with both, Leon. How about you do the ‘small dogs, lots of energy’ with Chips and stay here with Earl?”

Sighing, Merlin watched. There was a new bloke here today who had the most unlikely combination of pack, a little yapping papillon dog by the name of Chips and a St. Bernard by the name of Earl. Earl seemed to be a nice one, very relaxed, always questioning if it moving really was required but the small one had gotten on everyone’s nerves already. It still put a smile on Merlin’s face to think of the confused look Gwenny had thrown him when the sad excuse for a dog had started barking it’s tiny behind off. 

“I’ll take him back to the car, he can wait until we’re done.” The tall man who was the obviously overstrained owner of this pet, picked the papillon up and had the decency to at least blush at the assembled groans. 

“You know, Leon,” Gwaine called after him, “Chips has four legs and they actually do reach the floor. He’s fully capable of walking.”

Gwenny watched and then looked up at Merlin. 

“Oh no, don’t you hope that I’ll carry you like that. You’re like 7 times his size.” Merlin grinned when Gwenny grumbled. 

Leon came back and Earl could actually be convinced to work with him and the hour went by without further disturbances. 

When they were done and Merlin tried to get the worst dirt out of Gwenny’s fur with an old towel before letting her hop into the car, the new guy approached.

“Hi, you must be Merlin.”

“That I am.” Merlin smiled. Aside from having the worst unbehaved dogs Merlin had seen in a long time, Leon seemed to be quite nice. 

“You’re the bloke to turn to if there’s something wrong with my dogs?”

Merlin let go of Gwenny, even though he wasn’t done cleaning her and she took the opportunity and hopped into the car. “Anything I can do?”

“No, they’re fine. I’ve just moved back here and try to get re-accustomed with everything. It’s good to know the local vet.”

“Oh, sure. I took over the clinic of old Doc Henderson when he retired, if you know where that is? That’s where you can find me.”

“And you’re Arthur’s…fiancé…” Leon looked him up and down with the smallest of smirks.

Merlin tried not to frown. For someone who was new in town, Leon seemed to know a lot. “Yes, I am.” He straightened up a bit. “You know him?”

“Oh yes.” Leon just smiled. “I’m Leon. Leon Knight,” he added when Merlin didn’t give any sign of recognition. 

Merlin looked up at him.

“Arthur seems to be quite fond of being engaged. He’s just not that good at actually getting married.” Leon threw him a pitying look. “Have a good one.” He called for Earl, who had gotten comfortable right next to his foot and left.

Merlin frowned. What was that supposed to mean? Who was this man and what did he know about Arthur?

Gwaine came over. “Don’t worry about him.”

“Is there anything to worry about?” Merlin didn’t take his eyes off of Leon, who tried to talk the huge St. Bernard into finally getting into the car. 

“You don’t know who he is?”

“He introduced himself and it sounded as if I should know who he is, but the name doesn’t ring a bell.”

Gwaine took a deep breath. “You should probably talk to Arthur.” He ruffled Gwenny’s fur when she poked her head out of the window, patted Merlin’s shoulder and left.


	21. Rings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin explodes. And not in the good way either.

Gwenny startled when Merlin slammed the door shut and tossed his keys on the table. 

“Hi gorgeous, where have you been?” Arthur showed up in the doorway to the kitchen.

“Out.”

“I know, but…”

Merlin couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Who’s Leon?”

“Leon?” Arthur blinked.

“Leon. Who is he?”

Arthur looked at Gwenny and then back at Merlin, a bit pale. “A name from the past. Why do you ask?”

“Well, he’s back and I think you have some explaining to do.” Merlin pushed past Arthur and started rummaging through the cupboards and drawers in an attempt to make tea. 

Sighing, Arthur followed him. “Will you listen?”

“What else are you keeping from me? First Percy and now Leon? What do you really want, Arthur? Should I go back to living above the clinic?” All fight left Merlin and he just leaned against the counter, looking down at the mug he had taken out of the cupboard. He couldn’t help the tears from rolling down his face. He loved Arthur, he thought they had a future but obviously Arthur saw this differently. 

“Merlin…” Arthur sounded surprised. “What are you talking about? Percy is my work-out partner, he helps me getting in shape. And Leon…”

Merlin waited, unsure if he even wanted to hear it. 

Arthur sat down at the kitchen table. “Leon grew up here in Camelot, but we only met at university. Both literature majors. He’s a poet, you know?”

Hanging his head, Merlin tried to wipe the tears away. Leon had a lot more in common with Arthur than he had, it seemed.

“It was in the time where we started to experiment, when I found out that I like men. You didn’t think you were my first, did you? Merlin, I’m 31, I…”

Merlin drew in a shuddering breath. “Of course you have a history. It’s just…why did he say you are good at getting engaged but not at going through with it?” A cold fist clenched around Merlin’s heart. 

“Is that what he said?” Arthur jumped up. “See, this was one of the reasons why we didn’t work out. Yes, we were engaged. Not living together, but we wanted to find a place.”

Merlin bit his lower lip.

“When I finally found a little apartment, he decided it was time to see the world. Said it was important for him as a poet to see other countries, to experience other cultures. He wanted me to come along, but I just couldn’t. Then he was gone. Never heard of him again…until you mentioned him today.”

“And I have to mention him for you to tell me about him?” There was a giant lump in Merlin’s throat.

“Isn’t that a bit unfair, Merlin?” Arthur got up. “You’ve never asked. After years where I wondered what had gone wrong and a few of being convinced to stay alone, I’ve met you and that’s all that counts for me.”

“I thought we didn’t have secrets.” Merlin shoved his tea bag around on the counter with his index finger uninspiredly.

“It…Merlin, this isn’t a secret. It’s just not important. The past is in the past. I don’t care if he’s back or not, you is what matters. Merlin, say something.”

“What do you want me to say?” Finally, Merlin turned around, but he didn’t look at Arthur. 

Arthur frowned. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you lately, Merlin. You’re constantly grumpy and I can’t do anything right.”

Merlin didn’t say anything for a long time and just watched Gwenny sniffing at the leg of his jeans. “I don’t like it.”

“What? What is it that you don’t like? If you don’t tell me I can’t do anything about it!”

“I hate that you are out with Percy all the time, working out, letting all those muscly guys check you out. I hate that your ex is back in town. I…” Merlin sniffed.

Arthur looked at him for a moment before he started to chuckle. “You’re jealous! Oh my God, Merlin, you really are jealous!”

“Nothing funny about it.” Yes, he was jealous. He was so jealous it ate him up. 

Wrapping his arms around Merlin, Arthur pulled him close. “It’s endearing. It’s…it makes me love you even more.”

“It’s just…”

“Merlin, Leon is no threat to you. That was in the past. He hurt me, I’m over it. I was long before I’ve even met you. And you’re not really jealous about Percy, are you?”

“It’s…you spend all your time in the gym lately. You even just drop Gwenny off at Gwaine’s to do that…”

“Don’t you want me to look good at our wedding? I saw you looking at Percy’s arms, I thought you might like me a bit more defined?”

Merlin leaned his head against Arthur’s shoulder. Of course he had noticed that Arthur’s body had changed a bit already and he would be lying if he said he didn’t like it, but… “I want you, the way you are, you don’t need to…”

“Love you. And only you.”

Sniffling, Merlin wrapped his arms around Arthur’s waist and held tight. “Sorry.”

“Hey, tell you what. I’ll cut down on working out a bit, it can get addictive, and you will tell me something like this before you explode next time. Deal?”

Merlin nodded against Arthur’s neck. 

Arthur rubbed his back. “And you know what else?”

“What else?”

“I’ve spent a lot of time looking for rings. I saw some fun ones and some special ones. How about we look at them and you tell me what you think?”

Merlin sniffed again but raised his head. “Rings?”

“I think it’s time to show the world that we belong together.” Arthur smiled. 

“But…”

“Why wait for the wedding if we can wear them already?” Arthur put a soft kiss on Merlin’s lips before he pulled back. “Let me get my ipad. What do you think about folded steel? Or some with our fingerprints on them? Or some we make ourselves?”

Gwenny sat next to Merlin and looked at him questioningly.

“I’m just being silly, Gwenny. Thanks for asking.”


	22. The itch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin has to adopt a little squirrel and it brings along some friends...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I itched all over while writing this....

Merlin looked at the little bundle unhappily. Why couldn’t people leave wild animals in the wild? 

“We found it sitting all alone in the middle of the hiking path, no mom in sight.”

He was sure that the squirrel mom was watching the first solo trip of junior from afar before the hikers had to pick the little one up, thinking it was abandoned. Merlin had lectured them on not to interfere with nature and that he was a vet and not an emergency station for injured animals, especially since the little squirrel was unharmed. Nevertheless had he taken it in. 

After finding an old hamster cage, he sat down with the little squirrel and started to comb it with the flea comb. Wild animal usually had fleas and this one wasn’t an exception. 

Gwenny padded closer.

“Stay there, Gwenny. I don’t want to pick fleas out of your fur later. It’s enough that we do have a new house guest, no need for more.”

But of course, Gwenny scooted closer, all innocently and when Merlin thought he was done and had found all the pesky flees – which wasn’t easy, the baby squirrel wanted to get out of his hand and away from the comb – she sat pressed to his leg and looked, with her nose. 

“We need to feed it first, it must be hungry. And all this being picked up and brought here must be exhausting.” Merlin got up and mixed some special food which he fed the squirrel with a syringe. He smiled. Even though he wasn’t happy with what those well-meaning hikers had done, a little squirrel was just cute and when did you get the chance to see one this close?

After taking care of the little one, he chuckled when it yawned. “Okay, Gwenny, you can look now. Just look, don’t lick!” He held the little squirrel so Gwenny could carefully sniff and grinned when she sat back down and threw him a confused look. “It will live with us for a while before we can put it back in the forest.”

Arthur leaned in the doorway and watched as Merlin put the tiny animal into the cage and arranged a heat lamp. “How often does it have to eat?”

“Every two hours, I think.”

“Even at night?”

“Yes.”

“And who will do that? You need your sleep, you have to be at work in the morning.”

Merlin smiled sweetly. “That’s what I have you for. Well done, you just became the daddy of a wonderful little red squirrel.”

“Me? Oh no! I need my beauty sleep and…”

“Oh, come on, you’ve been working on your new novel for nights. You get up to get something to drink every two hours anyway. You can feed Junior here, too. Just look at him.”

“It’s a boy?” Arthur peered into the cage with a bit more interest.

Merlin grinned. “I think so, yes.”

“And you promise we put him back outside when he’s old enough?”

“He’s a wild animal, we can’t keep him as a pet.”

Gwenny grumbled, obviously having adopted the squirrel already and the thought of parting with it again was not to her liking. But then she startled and started to scratch frantically behind her ear and on her chin.

“Oh no.” Merlin sighed. “I thought I had found them all!”

“What? What did you do to my girl?” Arthur turned and sat down on the floor next to Gwenny and stroked her head.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Merlin grinned.

Soon, Arthur started to scratch the scruff on his chin. “What? What’s that?”

“Congratulations.” Now Merlin laughed. “You’ve caught yourself some fleas.”


	23. Treats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gwenny gains weight and the boys have no idea why

Merlin threw Gwenny a look and she turned her head and didn’t look back. Okay, something was up. He had noticed that she had gained weight in the past weeks and wondered where she got the additional food from. He had checked the drawer where they stored her food but everything was okay and the can with the treats was up on a shelf, way out of her reach. 

“Arthur?”

Arthur looked up from his laptop and took the glasses off his nose. “Yes, dear?”

“Stop sneaking Gwenny treats. She gained weight, just look at her. It’s not healthy for her.”

“Me?” Arthur frowned. “I thought you were feeding her! I only take the treats along for dog school, the way it worked all the time. She works for it, she gets a treat. No additional food.”

“No, it’s not good for her. She might not mind now, but her joints will have to work more and…”

Before Merlin could start his rant about overfed pets, Arthur got up. “I know. That’s why I keep to the plan you put on the fridge.”

“So, if it’s neither you nor me…what’s going on here?”

“I’ll keep an eye on her in dog school. You know how dogs go beg at owners who give their dogs treats. Maybe she big-eyed her way into more food?”

Merlin nodded. “Do that. I doubt that a treat or two will make a huge difference when she runs about all the time. There must be something else. I’m sure it’s not Freya either and Gwaine is the one who taught me that dogs have to work for treats. Anyway, I’ll go for a run now.” He turned to where Gwenny had gotten comfortable in her basket. “Come on, girl, we’ll go walkies.”

+++

Arthur grinned when Gwenny padded in an hour later, made a beeline for her water dish and then dropped into her basket and didn’t move again for hours. He grinned even wider when Gwenny looked totally uninterested the next time Merlin wanted to take her along and when she refused to move at all about a week later and pretended not to hear Merlin, he laughed. 

“Let her out in the garden. When I’m done with this chapter, I’ll go out and play with her.”

Merlin sighed, put the leash onto the hook again and left. They still hadn’t found out where Gwenny got her additional food ration. Of course she Disney-eyed her way through training hours at Gwaine’s and got a few treats from other owners. But that couldn’t be the reason for her gaining weight. He had changed the dog food and gave her smaller portions. Even a blood test hadn’t given him the slightest idea.

After his round in the park, he came back and got a bottle of water from the fridge. “I’m back.” He went to the patio door and found Arthur and Gwenny at the fence, talking to their neighbor.

“Hello, Mrs. Monaghan.”

“Merlin! Hello!” The elderly woman smiled and patted Gwenny’s head. “I just told your friend here what a nice dog you have. She sometimes keeps me company.”

“She sneaks through the fence?”

Arthur nodded. “She dug a bit underneath it and seems to come and go as she pleases.”

“And of course she gets some treats each time she visits me.” Their neighbor smiled widely.

Merlin exchanged a look with Arthur. “How often does she visit you, Mrs. Monaghan?”

“Oh, about two times a day, sometimes even more often.”

Merlin sighed and tried to find the right words to explain why this was a bad thing in a way that wouldn’t hurt their well-meaning neighbour.


	24. Career Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A trip to the local school doesn't quite go as planned

Merlin leaned in the doorway to the classroom and smiled. It was Arthur’s first time at ‘career day’ at the local elementary school. He had been nervous for days, unsure of what to tell the 3rd graders and how to hold their attention. Since Merlin had Gwenny along, Arthur had brought pens and little notebooks for everyone and written a story about Killy, the dragon. The kids had listened open-mouthed and applauded Arthur now that his presentation came to an end. 

The teacher thanked Arthur and introduced Merlin. When Arthur passed him on his way to the back of the room, he brushed their hands together and winked. 

“Okay, here I am again.” Merlin went to the front of the room, Gwenny at his side. “For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Merlin and I am a veterinary surgeon, which means I’m a doctor for animals. Today, I brought a very special guest with me. Say hi to Gwenny.”

Gwenny startled a bit when the kids started yelling her name and she looked up at Merlin. 

“We want to tell and show you a few things about approaching dogs. Some of you have dogs of your own, right?” He smiled since he knew a few of the excited faces in this class. “But not all dogs are the same and what you can do with your own dog might not be the right thing to do with a dog you don’t know.”

Much to the amusement of the children, Gwenny barked. 

“See? Gwenny thinks so, too.”

He sat down on the floor with the kids and talked about dogs and how they get to know each other and people, told them to not just touch dogs they didn’t know and always ask the owner first if they are allowed to touch at all and what signs to look for to see if a dog was friendly or didn’t want any contact. Then, of course, the kids were allowed to pet Gwenny one after the other. She stood very still, a bit unsure about all those little hands on her and wagged her tail carefully. 

“Alright. I think we’re done for today unless you have questions. If you do, just ask. We don’t bite.” Merlin winked at the children, who giggled and slowly a little hand rose. “Yes?”

“Why are you wearing the same ring than Arthur, the writer?”

Merlin bit back a grin. Arthur, the writer. He would so use this from now on. “We’re wearing the same rings because we are engaged and about to get married.” 

“But you’re boys! Boys can’t marry boys!”

“Yes, we both are boys and boys can get married, too.”

“It’s not the same!” A little blond girl got up. “My aunt got married to Martha and they said it’s not the same when you are gay.”

“It might not yet be the exact same than when a man marries a woman because of some outdated laws and regulations, but does that make a difference if you love someone?” Merlin patted Gwenny’s back, who just then decided to lick his face. These were not the kind of questions he had expected, but as long as he didn’t have to explain how they had sex, it was fine with him. He felt the teacher getting tense and ready to interfere as soon as the questions got too personal. 

A little boy in the front row frowned. “You love Arthur, the writer?”

Merlin threw Arthur a look across the room and smiled. “Yes, I do. Very much.”

Mordred, the little boy who lived across the street from the clinic, spoke up. “Are there gay animals, too?”

The teacher visibly relaxed and Merlin nodded. “That’s a great question and yes, actually there are animals that are known to have same-sex relationships.” He told them about the pair of male penguins in a zoo that adopted an abandoned egg and raised a baby penguin together just as well as any other couple. “And it’s not only penguins, there are lots of other animals, too.”

“So it’s just a matter of how much you love someone.” Sophia, who came to the dog school with her mother and their poodle, mused.

“Exactly.” The teacher signaled him and Merlin said, “I think we have time for just one more question.”

The kids didn’t seem to like that, but one little hand came up and Merlin pointed to the boy ready for yet more questions about being gay. “Yes?”

“Will you bring us a real dangerous animal next time? Like a crocodile or a poisonous snake or something?”

Merlin chuckled and got up. “Since crocodiles and poisonous snakes aren’t too common in Camelot, I can't promise.” He winked. “But I’ll see what I can do.”


	25. Exploring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin has set his mind on something

Arthur threw Merlin an amused look. “What?“

“Can’t I look at my fiance?“ Merlin stepped close and ran a hand down Arthur’s chest.

“You want to ‘look’ with your fingers?” The smile got wider.

“I had something like that in mind.” Merlin smirked. “I mean…” He tried to look innocent again but failed miserably. “You do all that hard work-out and I haven’t even inspected all the efforts closely.”

Arthur laughed. “Go ahead. Want me to take my shirt off?”

But Merlin already had grabbed the hem of Arthur’s t-shirt and tugged it over his head. Then he stepped back.

“Like something you see?”

“Oh yes!” Merlin grabbed Arthur neck and pulled him in for a greedy kiss. Then he shoved Arthur back onto the bed and removed Arthur’s sweatpants.

Arthur groaned but seemed to enjoy the situation very much. 

For a long while, Merlin just stood at the foot of the bed, looking. He smirked when Arthur flexed his muscles. “So, what do you want me to explore first?”

“Oh, I don’t know. You know, I’ve worked on my arms,” Arthur showed off his biceps, “and on my chest and my abdomen… So…explore whatever you feel like.”

Merlin climbed on the bed. “I think…I’ll start with your shoulders, work my way down your arms and up again, down your chest and to that delicious six-pack.”

“And that’s all?” Arthur threw his head back and arched into the touch when Merlin ran his fingers over his skin. 

Leaning in to kiss that spot on Arthur’s neck that made him squirm, Merlin smiled. He would save that wonderful arse for last.


	26. Superbowl Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The guys have some friends over to watch the Superbowl.

Gwenny stretched and yawned before she got up and padded to the kitchen to drink a bit of water. Then she padded back into the living room, stretched once again and made a round to check if everyone was still there. 

Luc scratched her ear, Freya hugged her and buried her face into her fur, Gwaine winked at her and pretended to throw a stick for her which she just ignored and Arthur snuck her a treat while Merlin threw him a look. 

“Go back to your bed, sweets, this will take a while.” He stroked her head and then watched how she curled up next to Lance with a deep sigh. “It difficult to explain Superbowl to her.”

Percy laughed. “It’s difficult to explain that to everyone who doesn’t watch why we sit here in the middle of the night and watch a football game, even though none of us is a fan of either of the teams.”

“They don’t understand the important things in life.” Freya pulled her overly large jersey tighter around her and snuggled against Percy who pressed a kiss on her hair.

Merlin smiled and threw Arthur a look before he got up. “Another beer?”

Even Gwaine shook his head and Merlin went to the kitchen, not so much because he needed to fetch another bottle of Coke, but more because he needed to move. It was 4:30 in the morning and it was a good thing that the clinic was closed the next day. He yawned as he opened the fridge. He liked spending this one night a year with friends in front of the telly, but the fun turned into hard work as the game went into the fourth quarter. 

Taking a sip of his Coke, Merlin came back into the living room where Luc made short process of the last popcorn in an attempt to stay awake and Freya had fallen asleep against her boyfriend. Arthur looked at the left-over sandwiches but then concentrated on the game again, groaning when the team he was rooting for lost the ball again. 

“You know,” Merlin nibbled on some drying carrot stick, “I’ve never cared less for the game than tonight.”

“But it’s thrilling.” Arthur reached over and put his hand on Merlin’s knee.

“Yes, but it’s not really a good game. It lives off the mistakes they make.”

Arthur threw him a look. “I’m proud of you. You’ve learned a lot about this sport. When we started dating, you could barely tell the teams apart.”

Merlin smiled. “You forced me to watch so many games…” He leaned in and put a wet smooch on Arthur’s cheek. His husband-to-be looked so gorgeous in his jersey and the baseball hat, even though he looked as tired as Merlin felt. Having a little post-Superbowl-shag was out of the question, they were both already half asleep. 

“Who won?” Freya woke up with a start and blinked tiredly. 

“It’s not over yet.” Percy smiled at her. 

“But you woke up at the right time. Two minute warning in the fourth.” Arthur shoved the baseball hat back a bit and blew out a breath. 

“I still wonder what the two minutes did. Always getting warned and never knowing why…” Merlin tried to keep a straight face when Arthur groaned. 

“The joke doesn’t get better, no matter how often you say that.” Gwaine rolled his eyes.

“See, even Gwaine is tired of this joke. You need to think up a new one.” Arthur nudged him.

Merlin yawned and looked over at Gwenny, who slept peacefully with her head on Lance’s back. He hoped the game would be over soon and he could curl up, too. 

“Okay, that’s it.” Luc got up and stretched, not taking his eyes off the screen. 

“But there’s still 20 seconds on the play clock,” Freya observed.

Percy shook his head. “Not enough for them to turn the game.”

“You always say anything can happen in that time.”

“Not in this game.” Arthur laughed as the game finished and everybody scrambled up. 

Their guests found their coats and thanked them for having them over and Merlin decided that he would just brush his teeth quickly and then drop into bed, face-down and not move again until the sun was up in the sky as soon as they were gone.

“Come on, Lance, we have to go.”

Neither Lance nor Gwenny moved.

Luc groaned. “Now I have to wake my dog. When we’re at home, he’ll be awake and wanting to play while I need some sleep.”

“Leave him here,” Merlin smiled. “They are such a cute pair and why wake them up?”

“Are you sure?”

“Yup . I’ll bring him over in the evening, so they can spend the day together.”

Luc smiled. “Thanks. And thanks for the night.” He chuckled on the way out. “That sounded a lot naughtier than it actually was.”

Arthur closed the door behind them and they were alone again. “If I wasn’t asleep on my feet, I’d turn this night into naughty one. You look hot in your jersey.” He pulled Merlin close but they just stood leaned against each other, eyes closed. 

“Arthur?”

“Hmm?”

“Maybe we should…”

Arthur nodded and they managed to make it to the bedroom without falling asleep but just dropped into bed at a time where they usually got up. 

Two hours later, Gwenny padded in and looked at them, unsure why nobody moved. She decided against barking and went back to get a bit more sleep next to her boyfriend.


	27. First snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gwenny has never seen snow before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. Work was demanding this week.

Merlin looked up from his book and smiled. Arthur had left the door to his office open and was typing away on his laptop. His new novel was coming along well, even though he refused to tell Merlin anything about the plot. Gwenny was standing by the patio doors, looking out and wagging her tail tentatively. 

“What’s up, girl? Do you need to go out?”

She turned her head to tell him she heard him but then resumed her intense watching of whatever it was she was looking at. Merlin got up to check and smiled. “It’s snowing.”

Gwenny wagged her tail excitedly.

“Your first snow, isn’t it? Wanna go out and try?” Without them even noticing, there were about ten centimeters of snow on the ground. “Arthur? You might not want to miss this.”

Arthur stopped typing and appeared from his room. “What?”

“Gosh, you look hot in your glasses.” Merlin couldn’t help himself. Each time Arthur wore them, he wanted to ravaged him right there.

“As much as I wouldn’t want to miss what is on your mind right now, I have a deadline to keep…” He shrugged.

“Gwenny is about to experience her first snow. Wanna come outside?”

Arthur got their jackets and his iphone to film her reaction and Gwenny couldn’t wait for them to let her out, barking excitedly. When Merlin finally opened the door, she ran out. Only to stop where the snow began. She sniffed at it and then looked up when she noticed that it snowed on her, too. 

“Just go on, it won’t bite you.”

“That’s what you say.” Arthur murmured.

Gwenny ran out into the snow and after a few steps stopped again to snuffle and bite the white stuff. Probably just as a precaution matter, so it knew who was boss. Then she barked and started to run about.

“It looks like our girl likes snow.” Merlin pulled the beanie out from his pocket and put it on before he stuffed his hands firmly into the pockets of his jacket. 

Arthur chuckled when Gwenny started to roll around only to jump up and run to the other end of the garden again. “Let’s see for how long.”

They stood and watched for about ten minutes and then Gwenny came back, shook right in front of them and then ran to the door and threw them a look that clearly said “Hurry up, open, I want in.”

“There you go, like everybody else, she enjoys it for ten minutes, then it’s enough.” Merlin laughed and let them all back inside. 

While Gwenny immediately planted herself in front of the heating, Merlin and Arthur hung up their jackets.

“I’ll go make a hot chocolate. Continue your chapter, I’ll bring it in and be really quiet for the rest of the evening.” Merlin put a little kiss on Arthur’s cold lips and smiled.

Arthur wrapped his arms around Merlin and held him in place. “You know…I thought I could take a little break from writing and we can have the hot chocolate together, here, in our living room…you know…cuddled up together, warming up from being outside…and see what else crosses our minds?” He put on his best innocent face and Merlin laughed.

“Sounds like a plan to me.” He leaned in for another kiss.


	28. Happy Birthday, Merls!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This doesn't have anything to do with the actual story but Merls loving the guys and their pup and so I thought she might like them dressed up and coming over for her birthday. Have a great one, hon!

„Are you done yet? We need to go!“

“I’ve told you about an hour ago. But _someone_ had to do a million things before we could leave.” Merlin rolled his eyes and pulled the zipper of his hoodie up.

Arthur groaned. “You’re not going to wear this? You know how she likes us to dress up!” He adjusted his tie again and reached for his suit jacket.

“Don’t worry, got my bowtie here,” Merlin patted his pocket, “I’m wearing the vest underneath the hoodie already and I’ve already put the jacket on the back seat of the car. I just want to be comfy on the ride.”

“Okay. Flowers?”

“Here, in the kitchen, all ready to go.”

“Present?”

“That was your resort. I thought…”

Arthur nodded. “Yes, I’ve got it here. A copy of my new novel, freshly from printing, so new it’s still warm.”

Merlin grinned. “And it only comes to the book stores on Monday, so she’ll be one of the first ones to read it.”

“I hope she’ll like it.”

“Oh, she will, come on now.” Merlin held Arthur’s coat for him and then scrambled into his own winter jacket. “Take your scarf, it’s cold up north.”

Arthur sighed. “I know. Gwenny?”

Gwenny came padding and looked at him. 

“Are you ready to go? Wow, you’re looking good!”

The dog wagged her tail excitedly.

“She picked the neckerchief all by herself. She wanted the red one with the white flower print.” Merlin grinned.

“She looks so good in it.” Arthur smiled proudly. “Come on, you gorgeous bunch, we’re running late already.”

+++

When they pulled up by Merl’s house, Arthur gave Gwenny the gift bag with his book, took the flowers and dragged Merlin after him. 

Merlin rang the doorbell and they waited.


	29. Who's next?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin's face is all over town but Arthur thinks the ad (courtesty of Freya and Percy) just advertises Merlin, not the clinic. Merlin starts to think, he might be right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The wonderful Merlocked18 arted again! Go, look, it's just too cute! [. Of course this needed another chapter. :)](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2859002)

Freya giggled as she looked out of the window. 

“What’s up?” Merlin looked up from the papers he sorted.

“He’s at it again. I never thought this would be the reaction. We figured the clinic needed a bit more advertising, that’s all.”

Merlin peeked over Freya’s shoulder and shook his head. As much as he loved his fiancé, he seemed to have a serious trust issue they needed to talk about. When Freya and Percy had come in with the poster, Merlin had been humbled and thrilled. He loved that they had asked an artist they knew to make a drawing of him with a puppy and had helped to put them up all over town (that he had nicked a few and stored them in his desk was nobody’s business). He loved the drawing, the artist had captured him very well but Arthur thought it was just an ad for him, not the clinic. And ever since then he jealously guarded the clinic to see if he was right when he said that this would lead all the lonely women and gay guys there, no matter if their pet needed help or not.

He wasn’t entirely wrong, business had picked up since his face was all over town. If things stayed that way, he would offer Percy a permanent job when he graduated from university in summer. But that was just a thought so far and Merlin hadn’t told anyone about it yet. 

Checking yet another cat with the owner smiling dreamily at him, he tried to bite back a chuckle. At the moment it was still fun. People came to see him and he checked their pets as it was his job and earned money. Either the stream of new clients would slow down at some point or he had to take action. 

Merlin wasn’t entirely sure what to do about Arthur, though. Gwenny got more walks than she ever wanted. In fact, more than once, she just sat down on the pavement across the clinic and went on strike when Arthur tried to convince her that they had to walk around the block yet another time. She barked and when she saw Freya at the window, she wagged her tail, but refused to move. And the poor baby girl fell asleep as soon as Arthur went home with her. 

No matter how often he told him that there was nobody else, Merlin had a lot of convincing to do in the bedroom, too. Not that he minded. 

+++

“More new people?” Merlin looked at Freya.

“Yes, five new clients. Two cats, two dogs and an iguana. All accompanied by nice-looking young men, one of them even came all the way from Mercia.” Freya tried to hide a grin.

“If I end up with yet another dinner invitation, I’m going to scream.” As much fun as it had been in the beginning, it slowly became annoying. He wore his ring proudly and as soon as he noticed that someone showed more interest in him than was necessary, he mentioned his fiancé but it just didn’t stop. Some blokes even came back a few time, even though their pets were perfectly fine. “Call Arthur. If he can spare a minute, I need him here.”

Freya nodded and called the next patient in, a particularly persistent man with a grumpy little corgi who thought his fingers were chew toys. Merlin sighed and hoped that Arthur would show up soon. 

Just as he was done checking the presumably hurt paw of the irritating animal, Merlin heard Arthur’s Jeep pulling into one of the parking spaces in front of the clinic. 

“Alright, there you go, Sweetie, there is nothing wrong with your paw.” He looked up to the man with a false smile as he opened the door of the examination room. “Freya here will take care of you.”

“Oh, thank you so much, doctor! I was so worried. Next time she does that, I’ll come back right away. And maybe then you’ll have a bit of time for a coffee?”

Merlin gritted his teeth. This bloke didn’t give up. “I…” The door opened and Gwenny ran in, greeting Merlin and then Freya before she went to check the water bowl that was set up for the waiting patients. She was followed by Arthur and Merlin had never been happier to see him. “Arthur!”

Before Arthur could even say hello, Merlin had wrapped his arms around his neck and kissed him deeply – in front of all the waiting patients. Arthur seemed a bit surprised, but then kissed back enthusiastically. 

“You said you needed me here.” Arthur tried to look concerned when they finally broke the kiss. 

Merlin noticed the miffed face of Sweetie’s owner and even heard some of the waiting blokes huff out their disagreement, but he didn’t care. He had made his point. “Yes, I couldn’t be without you for another minute.” He smiled. “I’m going to take care of all the lovely pets still waiting, would you go over to Gilli’s and wait for me there? Freya said she’ll lock up, so we can have a lovely dinner together.” He knew that would cost him since Freya had offered no such thing, but he didn’t care. 

Arthur leaned in again for another kiss. “Will do.” He called for Gwenny and as he left the waiting room, he turned back. “Love you!”

Merlin knew he would have to think of something special for Arthur to make up for having used him that way, but he smiled widely when he turned back to the waiting pet-owners. “Okay, who’s next?”


	30. The vet-napping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Valentine's and sappy stuff happens.

Freya ran in, a bit late, her hair all over the place, a slight blush on her cheeks. “Sorry, Merlin, I…”

Merlin grinned as he looked up from the files he was checking. “You seem to be having a happy Valentine’s day so far.”

She blushed more as she shrugged into the denim shirt that was their work clothes. 

“I’m sorry that we have to be open today. It’s just our turn this week.”

Last year, the vets in the area had decided to take turns on Saturdays to be there for clients who just couldn’t make it during the week. Luckily, they were enough so that each of them only had to be present once a month. Too bad that this Saturday was the 14th of February.

“Oh, don’t worry.” Freya smoothened the shirt, “we’re only going to be here for a few hours, enough of Valentine’s left for a bit of celebration.” She fiddled with her hair and wrapped it up in a loose bun. “Do you have any plans?”

Merlin smiled. “When I come home, Arthur and Gwenny should be at Gwaine’s for the Saturday lecture and play hour. If we don’t get any emergencies, I’ll still have enough time to make some cupcakes. I’ve bought some cool decorations for them. And then I will start dinner and probably set the table all nicely and…”

Freya grinned. “Sounds nice. Percy made me a cake, too. It was a bit crooked and I think he forgot to put the milk into the dough, but it’s the thought that counts.”

Chuckling, Merlin imagined the cake. “Yes, it is.”

“Actually, I don’t need this day. With him, it’s Valentine’s every day.” She blushed. “And before I get even more sappy, I’ll go check the supplies and see if we’re running low on something and prepare the order, okay?”

Merlin nodded. “I’ll call you if someone comes in.” Some Saturdays were packed with patients, others were so slow that they stared at the clock to magic its hands further. 

At around 9 the first patient came in, a little puppy that had stepped into something and while Merlin tended to the animal – the situation reminded him so much of Gwenny – he heard the front door, but Freya came from the supply room and dealt with whatever the person wanted. He wrapped a bandage around the little paw, gave some healing skritches - which he got his face licked for – and some instructions as how to deal with the bandage to the owner. 

When he came out of the examination room again, there was a huge bunch of red roses on the counter. “Wow, Percy really tries hard.” Merlin smiled. It was so nice to see that Freya had someone who spoiled her like that. 

“Oh, they aren’t for me.” Freya smiled. 

“Who…he didn’t!” When Freya pointed to the little card, Merlin pulled it out and read ‘to the best vet in town, A.’ He laughed. “I’m the only vet in town.” He held the card out for Freya to read.

She giggled. “You know how he means it.”

“For a man who makes his money stringing words together, this is a lame joke.” Merlin beamed nevertheless. He never cared for presents and especially not for flowers, but it still made him feel all warm and tingly inside that Arthur thought about bringing him roses while he could still be asleep or doing more important things.

“So, aside from the cupcakes…did you at least get champagne? Or something else?”

“Of course, champagne, some special massage oil and…none of your business.” Merlin grinned.

“I don’t even want to know.” Laughing, she turned back to some files before she sighed. “I think I’ll write some of the invoices while we wait for clients. It’s going to fill the last hour.” She looked at the clock over the door just as Percy came in.

“Hi, am I too late?”

Merlin blinked. “Late for what?” He blinked a bit more when Percy put on his clinic denim shirt and exchanged a look with Freya. “What exactly are you doing?”

Once again, the door opened and Gwenny dashed in. She was wearing a red bow around her neck and had a red rose in her mouth. But before she went for Merlin, she greeted Percy and Freya, wagging all her behind.

“Go to Merlin, Gwenny.” Arthur came in after her.

“What the heck is going on here?” Merlin squatted down to take the single rose from Gwenny and to stroke her head. “Can you tell me?”

“This is now officially a kid-napping.” Arthur beamed.

Freya and Percy laughed. “More of a vet-napping, I’d say.” 

“Get out of your shirt. We have an appointment to keep.”

Merlin gaped. “I can’t leave, whatever it is, it can’t be that important. I still have about half an hour here and then I need to close up.”

“I’ll take over. I doubt there will be more to do but changing bandages and Percy can assist me.” Freya’s eyes sparkled. “Later, we’ll close for the weekend.”

Merlin didn’t know what to say and looked from one to the other. “This is a conspiracy!”

“Yes, it is.” Arthur grinned and Gwenny barked. 

Knowing when he was defeated, Merlin took off his shirt and reached for his jacket. “Where are we going?”

Arthur stepped close, wrapped his arms around him and pressed a quick kiss on the tip of Merlin’s nose. “Let me surprise you.”

“It’s something I won’t like, right?”

“I’m sure you’ll love it. Gwenny and I worked hard to make this happen.”

“Gwenny will come along?”

“No, she gave us the weekend off. This is just for us.”

Merlin sighed, not really meaning it, shrugged into his thick winter jacket, waved at Freya and Percy and let Arthur grab his hand and drag him out.

When they were gone, Percy looked at Freya. “One day, when I’m a real vet and make real money, I’ll surprise you with stuff like that, too.”

“You know I’m not into hot air balloon rides.” She smiled.

“I’m sure you’re into that spa visit with all the fancy massages and treatments they’ll go to later. And the fancy dinner.”

“That sounds a lot better. But you know I don’t need that.” She checked the clock and leaned against him. 

“What do you need?”

Freya smiled up at Percy. “You. Only you.”

Gwenny barked.


	31. Enemies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a new dog at dog school.

Merlin chatted with Hugo and Darlene, two of the dog owners who came to Gwaine’s school regularly while their dogs ran about and played. They had gone through a tough training session before and they had deserved their play time. Merlin didn’t even notice when someone new appeared.

“Oh yes, he’s fantastic.” Merlin smiled sappily. “But we haven’t set a date yet.”

Darlene asked a few things about Arthur’s new book but Merlin didn’t have the answers. “He doesn’t tell me a thing. I’ll have to read it just like everybody else. I just know he has a new protagonist but that’s all that I can say.”

All of a sudden, there was growling and barking and more growling. They all were used to some growling and to a lot of barking, but usually the barking was of the excited kind. This one wasn’t. 

Merlin spun around. “Gwenny! Gwen!” There were a few dogs fighting and his was in the middle of it. He started running towards the fighting dogs. 

Gwaine was a bit faster and managed to separate the fighters, mainly Gwenny and a large black Afghan, who was new. When he saw that Merlin was tending to Gwen, he pulled the Afghan over to her owner. “You said she could play with the others! That she was used to other dogs!”

“And I thought you were the pro who could judge things like these! Come here, Morgana,” the woman hunched down and started to examine her dog, “did the evil mongrel hurt you?” She straightened up again. “Is there at least a vet present?” she demanded.

Merlin shot her a look. Other than her dog, who seemed to be perfectly fine, his was limping and bleeding. “Come here, Gwenny, let me take a look.” He took a deep breath when he saw the injuries. “We’ll have to get you to the clinic, this needs stitches.”

Lance, who had been involved in the fight, too, but seemed to be fine, had come over and first sniffed at Gwenny and then licked her nose. 

“Get out of the way, Lance.” Merlin snapped at the dog, who threw him an insulted look. 

“Let me take care of her.” Luc squatted down and started to examine Gwenny, who whimpered when he came near her injuries. “You’re too involved.”

“So you are the local vet?” The blond woman came over, her dog in tow.

“I am.” Merlin got up. He knew that Gwenny was in capable hands and that Luc was right. “And if you have any idea about how to handle dogs, you’ll keep yours away from mine.”

“It’s not my fault that your mongrel started the fight.” The woman threw him a cold look. “And I think I need to find a different vet. No way are you going to touch my precious girl.”

“Then you’ll have to wait.” Luc hauled Gwenny up and, followed by Merlin, who already had the car key in hand. 

Merlin didn’t even realize that Gwaine was taking care of the woman. 

“Who was that anyway?”

“Her name’s Morgause, that’s all I know. She claimed her dog was the most well-behaved everywhere.” Luc gently put Gwenny on the back seat and sat with her. “You drive.”

“Well-behaved. That stupid bitch nearly killed our Gwenny!”

“Merlin, Gwenny is not dead and she will be fine in no time. A few stitched here at her neck and maybe we can fix the tear on her ear with a bandage. She’s just a bit shocked and will need a lot of love to get over it. Love and treats.” Luc chuckled when Gwenny looked up at him without moving her head when he mentioned the treats. “See, they work wonders!”

When reached the clinic, it took longer to clean Gwenny’s wounds than to patch them up. She didn’t like the injection Luc gave her and just sat down as soon as he lifted her off the examination table. 

“Okay, that was it. Could you drop us off at the dog school before you drive home, Merlin?” Luc removed the rubber gloves and tossed them into the bin. 

Merlin was happy that his friend had taken over. He was still a bit shaky as he nodded. “If you don’t have other plans, you could stay for dinner? You know when Arthur cooks, it’s more than for two. And this way you can check on Gwenny again later and she can spend some time with Lance…”

Luc smiled. “I’d love to but there is really no need. You’re a vet yourself, you can check on her. It would be nice for Lance to know that she will be fine, though.”

“Dinner at our place it is, then. Come on, Gwenny, can you walk? We’re going back home now, let’s go see Arthur.” 

Gwenny padded after him in a bit of a daze and he helped up into the car. Lance was at her side the whole time, watching jealously what Merlin was doing. 

Of course, Arthur was very worried when he saw the bandages and heard the story. He made plans to sue ‘this Morgause person!’ and checked at least a dozen times if Gwenny was comfy enough. 

After dinner, when Merlin had driven Luc and Lance back to the dog school where Luc’s car was parked, Arthur leaned against the couch, his arms crossed in front of his chest, looking at Gwenny.

“She will be fine, Arthur. I’m glad that Luc was there, I was a bit shocked, too. One minute they were playing, the next they were in the middle of a fight, biting everything they could reach.”

Arthur pulled his eyes away from the sleeping dog and huffed out a chuckle. “Girls, eh?”

Merlin grinned. “Yup, girl. I think your dog found her arch enemy.”

“She still lost the fight.”

“To save her honour, she had quite a bit of long black fur in her mouth.” Merlin wrapped his arms around Arthur’s waist and snuggled against him. 

“Let’s just hope the bitch will stay away from now on.”

Merlin wasn’t sure if Arthur meant the Afghan or her owner, but nodded.


	32. Celia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin can't save them all. When it's time to go, you have to go. But Merlin can try to make it easier for them.
> 
> This one is all Merlocked18's fault. She did another beautiful art piece and gave me this prompt. I've cried buckets writing this.

Merlin was laughing about something Arthur had said when the phone rang.  
„Yeah?“ His expression turned serious. „Coming.“ He took a deep breath as he got up.  
„What is it?“ Arthur looked up.

„Old Celia…“ Merlin already put on his boots. „It’s time.“

Arthur nodded. They had talked about the old horse a lot in the past week. „I’ll take you there.“

„No.“ Merlin shook his head. 

„I’ll come with you, I know how much it drains you.“

„Just…just take care of Gwenny and be here when I come back, okay?“ Merlin took his jacket, grabbed his keys and was out of the house before Arthur could object. 

He tried to prepare himself on the way to the stables. Celia was a very old horse who had lead a long and fulfilled live. He had treated her for a few things that came with old age but he had known that she wouldn’t hold on much longer. No matter how often he was called in cases like this one, no matter what kind of animal it was, it didn’t get easier. When he arrived, he closed his eyes for a moment before he got out of the car. Of course he had his vet equipment along but he hoped he wouldn’t need it, that his magic was enough. 

In the box, he found the old horse and Gina, her owner. The girl was already in tears. “Doc,” she sobbed.

“I know.” He nodded, then gently greeted the horse, who immediately leaned her head against his chest when he caressed her. 

“I…I can’t. Isn’t there anything you can do?” Tears were streaming down the girl’s face. “She’s been there for me all of my life. What will I do without her?”

Merlin knew there was no use in trying to get a magic connection to the horse as long as Gina was so upset and not willing to accept the situation. “She’s been there for you, you have to be here for her now. She won’t let go if you won’t.”

“Easy for you to say.” Gina sobbed again. “She taught me how to ride, she’s always here when I feel bad. When my first boyfriend left me, I spent nights here with her. You have to find something to…”

Softly, Merlin shook his head. It was difficult for him not to burst out in tears, too. He didn’t only feel for the animals, in situations like these he wanted to take the pain off the owner, too. There was a reason why his fellow students had called him 'Weeping Emrys'. “There is nothing we can do. She’s old. She’s had a great life. All we can do is be here for her now and to make it easier for her.”

Gina took a deep breath and then nodded. “Alright. Will you give her something?”

Merlin, who already had a weak connection to the horse, shook his head again. “She’s not in pain, that won’t be necessary.” 

“What…what do you want me to do?” New tears were rolling down Gina’s face.

“Just let her know that it’s okay; that she can let go, that you will miss her but that she taught you everything you need to know to go on.”

Closing his own eyes, Merlin leaned his forehead against the horse’s and let his magic flow. It didn’t take long before he had a connection. He sent all the calming vibes through this connection that he could find, in the distance hearing Gina tell Celia all the things he had told her to say. The horse was still fighting, she didn’t want to let go, afraid to leave her human friend alone that she had taken care of for so long. He reassured her that Gina meant every word she said and that her job was done, that it alright to go now and watch what Gina was doing from the other world where she wouldn’t feel any of the pains that come with old age, where she would meet her old friends again. 

Very slowly, Celia calmed down. Once more, Merlin tried to let her feel that she didn’t have to be afraid and when he felt something like a grateful vibe, he knew it wouldn’t take long now. 

He stepped back when Celia staggered and lay down. While Gina scrambled down next to her and hugged the horse, Merlin sat down close to its head, never losing the connection, always touching her. Celia drew a last breath and Merlin knew it was over when the magic connection slowly fizzled away. 

Gina pulled back and threw him a look. 

“She made it.” 

She looked at the horse. “Thank you.”

Merlin was sure that was a last fare-well to Celia and not a thanks for what he had done. 

They sat for a while and tears rolled down Merlin’s face, too. He wished he could take the pain from humans just as he could from animals, but his magic just didn’t work that way. 

A young man, about a year or two older than Gina, entered the box quietly. “I drove as quickly as possible, I just couldn’t…” He went silent when he noticed that Celia was gone and just sat down next to Gina and held her tight. He nodded at Merlin, who scrambled up.

His job was done, Gina’s boyfriend took over and all he had to do was go home. He took a few steps on wobbly legs. Merlin knew that using his magic like that drained him, but this had been a lot more exhausting than when an accident victim was brought in that he had never seen before. Celia had been one of his first patients when he opened the clinic. 

As he pulled the door to the stables open, he blinked. “Arthur?”

Arthur, who had been leaning against the hood of his car, got up and hurried over. “Here, take the blanket. I have hot tea in the car.”

“But my car…”

“We’re going to pick it up tomorrow.”

They drove back in silence, Merlin sipping his tea and Arthur once in a while glancing over at him to make sure he was still wrapped in the blanket. 

When they came back home, Merlin knew he should have taken a shower, but the few steps from the car to the bed room were almost too much, so he just slumped down on the bed. He barely noticed Arthur removing his shoes and jacket, arranging the duvet and muttering about knowing one’s limits. When he was done rummaging around, he slipped under the blanket with Merlin and pulled him tight. 

Gwenny, who had been quietly watching what was happening, knowing that something was off, finally came over and hopped onto the bed with them.

Merlin managed the first smile all evening when she nudged his hand with her nose.


	33. Hairlin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's all Merlocked's fault again. Go, look at her new art, then you will know.

„If you don’t need me here, Merlin, I’ll go feed the little ones back there and when you’re done I should have the form ready so we can order the things we’re running low on.” Freya smiled at the Afghan on Merlin’s examination table.

“Very funny.” Merlin threw her a look. She was making fun of his longish hair and beard for a while now.

Freya giggled. “Yes, that is funny. There is hardly any difference between you and her.”

Muttering about how he was busy and had no time for stuff like stupid haircuts, Merlin kept on checking the dog while Freya left the room, still giggling. 

+++

“Gosh….gosh, Merlin….” Arthur panted when Merlin sucked him expertly and he dug his fingers into the long hair.

Merlin would have grinned. Usually, Arthur had a word or two to say about his hair but when it came to sex, he loved having something to hold onto and Merlin enjoyed his fingers digging in and having something to guide him with and he didn’t even mind the occasional tug. 

Pulling back a bit when he felt Arthur coming, Merlin closed his eyes and just enjoyed. After all this time, he could still get Arthur hot in no time and he was still madly in love. He scrambled up and slumped down next to Arthur, who was trying to get his breath back. 

“You know, Merlin…”

“Yes?” Merlin smiled, waiting for the compliment he usually got in this situation.

“As much as I love holding on to your hair…it’s got to go.”

Merlin, who had just snuggled in, pulled back. “What?”

“Yes…I know…it’s just…don’t get me wrong, I love you, no matter what you look like. But come on, this wilderness-look doesn’t suit you. Your haircut is overdue for at least 8 weeks and with a beard like that, you look scary.”

“I don’t look scary!”

“Oh, and why did Gwenny bark angrily at you when you came home from that emergency the other night? She thought you were a burglar!”

“Arthur…” Merlin sighed. “Du Lac is sick, I have most of his patients on top of my own, we’re in the middle of our wedding preparations – by the way, Belinda called about the flowers – there are so many emergencies lately and Percy is in the middle of his exam, he can’t even help out. I just don’t have the time for something like a stupid haircut.”

Arthur scrambled up. “I know you are busy and stressed. But…I’m just saying this once: I’m not going to marry a hippie.”

Merlin pouted when Arthur got up and he heard the shower running. There was so much to do and looking good had never been his top priority. He rather liked the longish hair, it covered his ears. 

Gwenny took the chance to hop up onto the bed and huffed when she laid next to him. 

“What do you think, Gwenny? Am I an evil burglar? A wilderness hippie?”

She looked at him, her eyebrows moving before she barked.

“Even my dog is against me.” 

+++

“What took you so long?” Arthur looked up from where he was reading the paper at the breakfast table and a wide smile spread across his face. “Oh, look, it’s Merlin! Where have you been, my love?” He got up and put a gently kiss on Merlin’s lips. “And I can find your mouth without having to wade through tons of hair!”

“Cut it out!” Merlin frowned, but couldn’t keep a smile off his face. Even though he couldn’t do anything about the hair, Gwenny’s bark had convinced him to get rid of the beard. 

“Tea?” 

Merlin smiled. Had he known that shaving would get him tea made by Arthur, he might have done it before. 

They had breakfast in silence, just interrupted by Gwenny trying to sneak some food. 

“So, what are your plans for today?”

“I have to go to the clinic, there are a few animals where I need to do a post-surgery check and then I’m going to take care of the sheep on the Jacobsen farm. I should be back early afternoon. Then we can go over the flower arrangements and see if there’s something we like and probably give Belinda a call back? What are you going to do today?”

“I’ll take Gwenny to dog school, so she can play for a while and will be nicely tired when we come back, so she will sleep. Then…maybe I’ll do some editing on my new book and…”

“Oh, which reminds me, you need to take care of the sink.”

“The sink?”

“Yes, it’s clogged.” Merlin scratched his now non-existent beard and grinned.

Arthur just threw him a long look.


	34. Mercury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little pet needs a temporary home. Will it stay temporary?

„Hi, you two.“

Arthur looked up when Merlin carried a box in. “Hi…what are you bringing now?”

“Oh, just a temporary guest. The little one is too active and might hurt himself if we keep him in one of the cages, but I can’t let him go, especially since he has no permanent home yet.” Merlin set the box down on the couch and looked around.

Gwenny, who had followed him since he set foot into the place, eyed the box, unsure if she was allowed on the couch to check. 

Arthur got up, took his glasses off and came over. “A cat? Merlin, really?”

“It’s just a kitten! He had a broken leg when they found him and brought him to me. He’ll be fine in no time and we will find him a place to stay.” Merlin smiled his most innocent smile.

“You can’t bring any stray in that they drop at the clinic, Merlin! Remember last time? The squirrel? We’ve had fleas all over!” Arthur absentmindedly scratched at his neck and Gwenny yelped at the mention of ‘fleas’.

“Absolutely flea-free. He’s been at the clinic for two weeks now, poor little guy. Just look at him. And mostly, he will just be sleeping, it’s what kittens do.”

“Can he at least drink on his own?” Arthur threw Merlin a look, obviously remembering how he had made him feed the baby squirrel every two hours, even at night.

“Yes, he can.”

Gwenny barked. 

“Come on, Gwenny, play nice, he’s just a baby, he needs us.” Carefully, Merlin sat down and took the little cat out of the box. He held him, so Gwenny could see him.

The dog came a bit closer, carefully trying to sniff at the little furball who was looking at her with wide blue eyes. 

“See, Gwenny, he has a bad leg.” He turned the kitten around, so Gwenny and Arthur could see the little cast. “He can’t do everything on his own, you need to help him.”

Gwenny sniffed at the leg and sneezed which startled the kitten and Merlin had a difficult time just holding on to the squirming little creature. “He’ll be fine in no time and we will find him a place to stay.”

Again, Gwenny’s nose came closer and after a few sniffs, she licked the kitten, much to its dismay. It angrily hissed at her and tried to paw her nose. Gwenny jumped back and looked at Arthur, utterly confused. 

“He’s probably just scared.” Arthur couldn’t help the appeal of the kitten and reached out to gently stroke its head with one finger. A finger that got caught with little paws immediately. “Ouch!”

Merlin grinned. “Claws are claws, even if they are tiny, so you two better watch out. But he’s just as scared as you are, his little heart is beating wildly. I’ll put him back into his box now and he can calm down and sleep for a bit and when Gwenny is sure that she can keep up as a kitten-nanny we can let the little one out again.”

 

Two days later, Arthur had a small blanket folded on his desk next to his laptop and Mercury – as Arthur had named the silver kitten – was sleeping peacefully right there while he was typing away. From this elevated position it was easier for the kitten to make friends with Gwenny – her, always sticking her nose up to make contact, him pawing at her when he wanted to be left alone – and it only took another two days before Merlin found Gwenny in her bed curled around the kitten protectively with the little one purring.

Arthur wrapped his arms around him and pressed a kiss onto his neck as he stood watching the scene and Merlin sighed.

“What?”

“Where do I get another kitten from now?”

“What do you need another kitten for?” Arthur looked at him.

Merlin grinned. “I found a forever home for a kitten at Mrs. Levin’s.”

Arthur let go. “You didn’t tell her that…”

“No, I just told her that a kitten needs a place to stay.” Merlin smirked. 

“Good.” Arthur nodded. “Because Mercury belongs with us.”

Merlin chuckled but then turned to kiss his husband-to-be.


	35. #groupie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The clinic is holding Merlin hostage and Arthur and the pets miss him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out Merlocked18s art. This one is her fault, since she arted again! Give her ALL THE kudos!

Merlin frowned when his mobile buzzed in his pocket. It was a really busy day at the clinic and he couldn't check for messages every five minutes.

"Arthur again?" Freya smirked, having teased him about his husband-to-be and his latest favorite thing to do - sending selfies.

"Most likely. Could you..." He motioned to the Great Dane on his examination table and Freya immediately handed him what he needed to attach a new bandage. When they were done, he took the rubber gloves off, patted the dog and then turned to his owner. "Looks good so far. Just keep him out of puddles and this will heal in no time."

The girl thanked him and when Freya showed them out, Merlin pulled his mobile out to check. Of course it was a message from Arthur. And a selfie.

"Something nice this time?"

Merlin looked up and had the decency to blush when Freya came back in, accompanied by a little girl with a hamster in a cage. "Yes, very nice."

"Show me?" She grinned wider.

"I don't think so." He let the device slip into his pocket again. No way would he show Freya a photo of Arthur's cock, no matter how nice it was and how much he enjoyed it. Merlin ignored her laugh and turned to the girl who had just stood there, looking from one to the other.

The next time he looked up, it was close to 7 pm. They had been about to close up when a call came in from a man whose dog had an accident and he was about to bring it over. Merlin's back ached and he was hungry, but he couldn't turn an animal in need down. So they waited and Merlin checked his mobile.

Arthur had sent him half a dozen selfies of him in various states of being undressed. All of them very appealing, but Merlin chuckled. That was so Arthur. He was done with his new book and seemed to be bored while he waited for his editor's reply. He knew Arthur missed him, but he couldn’t stay at home when there were so many animals needing his help. 

When he opened the last message, the one Arthur had just sent a few minutes ago, Merlin expected yet another rather exposed body part of the Pendragon kind. Instead, he blinked when he saw it titled #groupie. He bit his lip hard when he looked at the photo. It showed Arthur, Mercury on the back of the couch, looking bored, and Gwenny. Actually more Gwenny’s big fat nose as she obviously had to sniff lense when the photo was taken. ‘We miss you.’

Swallowing hard, Merlin typed a quick _Emergency coming in right now. Will be at home as soon as I can_ as the door opened and the man who had called brought his dog in. For the next hour, he was busy calming the dog down enough so he could clean the wounds and patch them up with stiches.

When he opened the door, a plastic bag with take-out from Gilli’s in his hand, Gwenny jumped up to greet him, wagging her tail as if he was back from a trip around the world and when he set the bag onto the coffee table, even Mercury limped by and rubbed himself against the leg of his jeans. “Arthur?”

“Right here, baby.”

Merlin smiled tiredly. He didn’t like the nickname too much, but after this day, he was happy to hear Arthur’s voice and followed it into the kitchen where Arthur was putting the finishing touches on the meal he’d cooked. 

Leaning against him when Arthur wrapped his arms around him and kissed him ‘hello’, Merlin closed his eyes for a moment. “What did you make? It smells wonderful. I didn’t know you were cooking, so I brought stuff from Gilli’s.”

“We can put that in the fridge for tomorrow. Take a shower, dinner will be ready when you are done.”

Tiredly, Merlin did as told and let the warm water flow over his body, not moving at all. If it were up to him, he could sleep right there. Only that Arthur called for him made him turn off the shower and towel himself dry. Soft sweatpants were waiting for him on the heating, along with his favorite at-home-T-shirt and and old grey hoodie. Merlin smiled. What would he do if he didn’t have Arthur?

His hair still wet, he padded out, once again being greeted by Gwenny as if he had been away for months. “You really missed me, didn’t you?”

“Of course I did!”

Merlin chuckled. “I was talking to Gwenny.”

“We all missed you. Here, sit down and eat.” Arthur had brought a tray out to the living room and the food smelled delicious. 

After a few bites, Merlin shoved the plate away, though. 

“Don’t you like it?” Arthur’s face fell.

“I love it. I’m just so tired. I think I’ll eat the rest tomorrow morning before I leave.” Merlin yawned widely. 

Obviously not very amused, Arthur took the tray away. “Go to bed.”

“But I want to spend some time with you. After all the hot selfies you’ve sent…” Merlin could hardly keep his eyes open. 

“I’ll be with you in a moment.”

Merlin never heard or saw Arthur coming into the bedroom, he was fast asleep in seconds.

“What are we going to do with him, Gwenny?” Arthur sighed. “He’s working way too hard.”

Gwenny tentatively wagged her tail and looked from Arthur to Merlin and back. Then she barked once.

“Shhh, let him sleep. But you’re right. Next week, Du Lac should be back and Merlin will not have to deal with his patients any longer.”

Gwenny harrumphed, went to Merlin’s side of the bed and curled up next to where Merlin had dropped the hoodie. 

“Night, Gwen.” Arthur climbed into bed and smiled when Merlin immediately snuggled back into him.


	36. Cat-a-lot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur sees something online and just orders it. He seems to be the only one who's delighted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, Merls, not the chapter you've been waiting for. But this was easier to write today. Hope you enjoy it anyway.   
> For everybody else: Check out Merls' art!
> 
>  
> 
> And no, none of this is beta'd.

„Arthur, I’m home!“ Merlin pushed the door into the lock and tossed his keys into the little bowl on the sideboard. Gwenny stood at the top of the stairs, barked once and wagged her tail before she vanished again. So Arthur was upstairs. Smiling, Merlin took off his shoes and jacket and made his way to the second floor. “Arthur? I’ve been laughing so hard this afternoon, I met Mordred when Freya and I took a little lunch break at Gilli’s.”

The door to the guest room was ajar and when she heard him coming, Gwenny peeked out. “Arthur? Are you in…” Pushing the door open all the way, Merlin stopped in his tracks. Most of the space on the floor was used up by what seemed to be a giant castle. 

“Hi Merlin!” Arthur’s head appeared from somewhere behind it, his glasses had slid down his nose a bit. He shoved them up again and beamed. “Isn’t it wonderful?”

“It…” Merlin stared. “What is it?”

“Welcome to Cat-a-lot!”

Merlin scratched the side of his neck as he eyed the building sceptically. “Cat-a-lot…”

“I saw it on the internet lately and I knew Mercury had to have it!” 

The little cat sat at the entrance and didn’t seem to be sure what to make of the whole thing either. 

“Mercury…”

“Yes! Look, he can sharpen his claws everywhere and he can go inside – the special pillow for it will be delivered next week – and he can climb around on it and in it and sleep up here and…”

Merlin looked at the atrocity that was supposed to be cat-paradise unhappily. “Why do I have the feeling that you are a lot happier with this than Mercury?”

Gwenny sniffed at a corner of the cat-castle and threw Merlin a confused look. “I know, girl, I know.” It didn’t make sense to him either. They had the kitten for a few weeks and Mercury was rid of the cast now and acting like any other cat his age, but there was still a slight limp and Merlin suspected he wouldn’t outgrow it. He held back on the jumping, so this…thing…was probably not the best playground for the kitten. 

“But look at him, he likes it!” Arthur collected his screwdriver and other tools he had used to assemble the castle. “He feels like a king!”

Merlin couldn’t help but chuckle at the enthusiasm Arthur showed. “Next I’ll find you sitting in the middle of it. Should I get you a crown, my Lord?”

“I’d make a good king!” Arthur climbed over the packing material and put a kiss on Merlin’s lips. 

“You have to take the plastic out, I don’t want any of them to swallow bits and pieces of it.” Merlin pointed to the heap of things Arthur had just made one big step over. 

“Don’t I get any praise at all? I assembled it all by myself!”

Merlin leaned in and kissed Arthur again. “You are wonderful, Mister Builder-King. Will you clean up now?”

Arthur sighed, put the tools away and then started to pick up all the plastic. Merlin helped; the sooner they were done, the sooner they could have dinner and then cuddle on the couch. 

As they carried the stuff out to the garage, Arthur asked “When you came in, you wanted to tell me something. What was it?”

“Oh!” Merlin had almost forgotten about the incident when he had seen the cat-castle. “We’ve met Mordred, remember him? The little boy who lives across the clinic? The one…”

“Yes, I do remember him. He’s in the class we were to at career day, right?”

“That’s him, right!”

“So, what about him?”

Merlin grinned. “We said hi and I asked him how school was and all such. He politely answered all my questions and then…” He couldn’t help but laugh. “He went ‘Are you and Arthur, the writer, still gay?’”

Arthur, who was just about to stuff the plastic wrappers into the bin, stopped and looked at Merlin for a moment before he started laughing, too. “I hope you told him ‘yes’.”

“Of course I did.” Merlin still giggled.

“Maybe…” Arthur smirked. “Maybe I should show you exactly how gay we still are?”

“I wouldn’t mind at all.” Merlin grinned widely. “But first, we’ll finish cleaning up the guest room.”

When they came upstairs, Gwenny sat at the front entrance of the castle as if she was guarding it. Mercury was curled up in a cardboard box that Arthur had left standing in the court yard and Merlin just threw Arthur a look.


	37. He's lost!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin comes homes and finds a distraught Arthur searching for Mercury.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Camelot_Drabble's prompt 'unwind'

Merlin rushed home after hearing Arthur’s voice on his voicemail. Something was wrong but the way Arthur had sobbed and babbled, he didn’t really know what. Had something happened to Gwenny? But then Luc would have called since their little girl spent the weekend over at Du Lac’s and with her friend Lance. 

Pushing the door open, Merlin called out for Arthur. “Arthur? What’s wrong? Where are you?” He heard rummaging and some heavy parts falling up on the second floor and ran up the stairs. “Arthur?”

He found him in the guest room, in the pieces and parts that had been Catalot and stared for a moment. Arthur had been so proud to build the too-large and mostly unused cat house/playground but now it lay around him, taken apart. “What’s wrong?” He made his way over to where Arthur sat, tears in his eyes.

“Mercury. He’s gone. I can’t find him anywhere!”

Merlin wrapped his arms around Arthur and the moment he felt Arthur’s head touch his shoulder, he knew the tears were falling. “He must be somewhere around the house, he’s not an outdoors cat. We will find him.”

“But…but what if…” Arthur was digging his fingers into Merlin’s shirt “…he ran out…or is somewhere, hurt?”

“Calm down, love, we will find him. Where have you checked already?”

Slowly, Merlin got all the places out of Arthur that he had checked for the little cat and nodded. “We will check again together. All his favourite places.”

And hour later, they still hadn’t made any progress and Arthur became more and more distraught. Merlin knew if he didn’t try to stay rational, Arthur would fall apart and that wouldn’t help them finding their little cat. “Okay, let’s try the logical approach.”

Arthur looked at him and new tears welled up.

“Which places did he like when he was little? When I first brought him home?”

“His bed.”

Merlin nodded. They had taken that apart and removed all the blankets and toys twice. No Mercury. “Where else?”

“My desk.” 

Even now, that Mercury had grown quite a bit, he still liked to curl up next to Arthur’s laptop and watched him type away. If the noise annoyed him or he wanted skritches, he just put a paw on Arthur’s hand and threw him a look. But they would have found Mercury if he was sleeping in such an exposed place. 

Arthur’s face lit up. “The bathroom! That tiny space behind the shelf, next to the heating! We haven’t checked there!” Before he had finished the sentence, he was already halfway up the stairs.

Merlin followed, a little worried. Mercury had loved this place as a kitten but now he was too big to squeeze himself into it. If he really had crawled in there... He heard a loud banging from the bathroom before he could open the door. “Arthur?”

“He’s here! Merlin, he can’t get out! Do something!”

Some utensils had fallen out of the shelf as Arthur had tried to move it out of the way and Merlin carefully stepped over them to see where Mercury was and especially how he was. He frowned when he saw that the cat had tried to squeeze himself into the tiny space and was stuck now. He had struggled so much that he was exhausted and only meowed weakly when Arthur talked to him. 

“Let’s get the shelf out of the way, so we can get to him.”

Reluctantly, Arthur got up and helped, the noises they made spooking Mercury even more.

Merlin knew they’d never get him out of his trap as long as Mercury was so scared, so he blocked Arthur’s way and knelt down. He didn’t even talk to the cat, just let his magic flow and it didn’t take long and Mercury was totally relaxed and calm. It was still a bit difficult to get him out of his confinement, but finally he was out. 

Arthur immediately reached for him but Merlin shook his head. “Let me check him first.”

He knew it was no use asking Arthur to put the shelf back and pick up the things that had fallen to the ground, Arthur hovered close and watched his every move as he carried Mercury down the stairs and into the living room. 

“Sit.”

Arthur did as told and happily accepted the calmly breathing Mercury into his arms. “Is he okay?”

“He might have some bruises from struggling against the pipes so hard and we need to watch his bad leg closely over the next few days. He’s exhausted and needs to sleep. Other than that, he should be fine in no time.” Merlin leaned in and pressed a kiss on Arthur’s hair but Arthur was too busy gently stroking Mercury’s head and babbling nonsense to him. 

When Merlin came back with tea for them both, Arthur was still in the same place and hadn’t let go of their cat. He sat down next to him and wrapped an arm around him. “You rescued him, I’m proud of you.”

“It was you. You got him out of there and made sure he’s okay.”

“But you remembered the place. And he will hopefully have learned that he’s grown and doesn’t fit everywhere any longer.”

Arthur leaned his head against Merlin and Merlin turned to kiss him softly. 

“How about,” he whispered, “you’ll go to bed, I’ll put Mercury in his and when he sleeps, I’ll come upstairs and give you a nice massage so you can unwind.”

Drawing a shaky breath, Arthur looked at Merlin and then back at Mercury. “I know I’m silly, but I can’t let go of him just now.”

Merlin smiled and pulled Arthur closer, so he could nuzzle into his hair. “You’re not silly. You love him.”

Slowly nodding, Arthur gently stroked the little cat. “And I love you.”

“That is a given.” Merlin smiled. 

They sat quietly and slowly Merlin felt the tension leaving Arthur’s shoulders as he relaxed. For a moment he thought that not only the cat but Arthur, too, had fallen asleep, exhausted now that the adrenaline had left. All of a sudden, Arthur chuckled. “I know what I’ll do tomorrow.”

“And that is?”

“Making the place cat-proof and rebuilding Catalot!”

Merlin chuckled and rewarded Arthur with a soft kiss.


	38. Hot summer day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's just too hot to do anything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little something to pass the time while it's too hot to even think.

“Merlin?“ Arthur just turned his head.

“Yes?” Merlin didn’t move from where he was lying on his deckchair. 

“Wanna go upstairs?”

Merlin grunted. “It’s way too hot to move at all.”

There was a little silence.

“And you can stop pouting. Last night, you complained about sweating just from breathing and today you want to have sex while it’s one of the hottest days in…ever?”

Arthur pouted anyway. “Where’s Gwenny?”

Merlin didn’t even open his eyes, just moved one foot a bit more into the shade. “Last I saw her she was stretched out on the tile floor in the kitchen, looking at me as if the heat was my fault.”

“She’s probably right.”

“Hey! If I could do anything about it, it were 10 degrees cooler and we could sleep and actually do things on our day off.” 

Without saying a word, Arthur got up. 

Merlin closed his eyes again. The only thing you could do in this weather was sleep and he intended to get as much sleep as possible.

He woke up again when he heard Arthur rummaging around. “What are you doing?”

“I remembered the old pool thingy and thought Gwenny might like it.” Arthur had the garden hose in his hand and filled the little pool that he had inflated before with water. “Should I get Mercury, too?”

Merlin chuckled. “I’d like to see you try. Cats are usually not very fond of water and his claws might be the end of the pool.” He only sat up when Arthur was done and went into the house to persuade Gwenny to join them outside. 

An hour later, not only Gwenny was soaked, but all three of them had managed to squeeze into the pool, certain limbs hanging over the edge, and cooled off a bit.


	39. Deadly water!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur runs a bath for Merlin. They both didn't think of their pets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, not beta'd. Why start with it now? ;)
> 
> And yes, I've probably watched a few too funny cat videos lately....

Merlin had a tough day at work. The heat of the past weeks had taken its toll on men and animals alike, so he was busy from the first moment on that he had stepped into the practice. How he wished that Percy was done at university and could work for him full-time. Only a few more weeks and things would become a lot easier. 

He entered the house and was greeted by Gwenny, who jumped up right away, her tail wagging. 

“Hi, girl. Did you have a nice day?”

Even Mercury came over and rubbed himself against his legs. 

“Oh, you, too? Didn’t Arthur feed you or why do you grace me the honour of a greeting?” He bent down to ruffle Gwenny’s fur and to pet Mercury and laughed. 

“They’ve missed you.” Arthur stood in the doorway to his office and pulled the glasses off his face before he came over. He pressed a little kiss on Merlin’s lips. 

“Missed you, too. As always.” Merlin smiled and then rolled his shoulders. 

“Tough day?”

Nodding, Merlin toes his shoes off and went to the kitchen to get himself a glass of water.

“How about…I’ll run you a bath?” 

“Sounds good. But how about…you’ll run _us_ a bath?” Merlin winked. “I’ll be upstairs in a minute.”

After he finished his water, he checked the bowls of their pets – who had followed Arthur when he went to the bathroom – but of course Arthur had taken good care of them. Smiling, he slowly made his way up the stairs.

“Merlin, quick!”

Oh God! What happened? Merlin rushed to the bathroom, only to be stopped by Arthur.

“Sshhh.” Arthur pointed.

The water was running and had filled the tub about ten centimetres yet and Mercury had jumped onto the rim and watched what was going on, sometimes trying to catch the water that came out of the tab. 

Merlin threw Arthur a ‘that’s so adorable!’-look before he watched their little cat again. 

Gwenny was very interested in the water, too. She sniffed at the tub and then at Mercury. 

“Don’t, Gwenny.”

But the dog wasn’t interested in what Merlin was saying, she nudged the cat with her nose.

Mercury lost his balance and slid down the tub much too fast for any of the men to react. As soon as he touched the water, he tried to get out of the tub as quickly as possible, which wasn’t easy with the sides of the tub being so steep and slippery. 

Even though he knew it was wrong, Merlin couldn’t help but laugh. 

Finally, Mercury made it and fled out of the bathroom quicker than a speeding bullet, leaving a confused Gwenny behind. 

“So not funny!”

Merlin giggled. “So funny!”

“He could have drowned!” Arthur tried to be cross, but started laughing, too.

“No, he couldn’t. We are right here, we would have helped him.”

“Why didn’t we, then?”

Merlin wiped a tear out of the corner of his eye, still chuckling. “Everything happened so fast.”

“Did you see his face?” Arthur tried to imitate the horrified look on Mercury’s face when his paws touched the water.

“Help me! I’m drowning! My feet are wet, the evil water is out there to kill me!!!!” Merlin couldn’t help it, he loved when cats were being so dramatic about nothing at all, it was just damn funny. 

They couldn’t control their giggle fit for a while, causing Gwenny to leave the bathroom, which fired up the giggles again.

“Even your dog thinks we’re crazy.”

“She may be right.” Arthur still grinned widely when they both finally got their breath back. “Still want to take that bath?”

Merlin shook his head. “I think I’m just going to take a shower. Go, find our kitten boy and see if he forgave us for setting up such a death trap.”

Arthur made a face. “So…no ‘us’ in the tub?”

Pressing Arthur against the doorframe and kissing him deeply, Merlin only pulled back when he knew Arthur’s body showed interest. He winked. “Hold that thought, I’ll meet you downstairs.”


	40. A new friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gwenny makes a new friend

When Merlin let Gwen out of the car at the clinic, she ran onto the sidewalk and then stopped in her tracks before she started barking.

"Gwenny! Gwen! Stop it!"

Turning round to see what got their dog so excited, Merlin spotted an elderly lady in a wheelchair, who had stopped as well and stared at Gwenny.

Merlin reached for Gwenny's collar. "I'm sorry, she's just never seen a person in a wheelchair." He turned to the dog. "Gwen!"

Gwenny whined and looked at him and then at the woman, unsure of what to make of the situation.

"He's dangerous!" The woman didn't move.

"Gwenny's a girl and no, she's not, just excited and confused." Merlin smiled.

"She wanted to attack!"

Shaking his head, Merlin tried not to chuckle. "If she wanted to attack, she would have done it right away, not that she ever attacked anything or anyone. You saw her stopping and just standing there, right?"

The woman was still not convinced but nodded slightly.

"Would it be okay for you if we came a bit closer? So Gwenny could sniff and find out that you are not dangerous to her?"

"Only if you hold her collar!"

"I promise to not let go."

The woman nodded and Merlin came a bit closer. He held out his hand. "Hi, my name is Merlin and the giant furbaby here is, as you have heard already, Gwen. Her friends call her Gwenny."

Gwenny watched Merlin shake hands with the woman and then carefully sniffed at the wheelchair.

"I'm Maria," the woman looked from Merlin to Gwen and back. "I've had some bad experiences with dogs. Once fell out of this thing because one of them beasts jumped against it."

Gwen sat down and just looked at her with her most innocent puppy-face as if she understood that this was an important moment.

"And you know, young man, I've only moved here two weeks ago. The home for the elderly is closer to my daughter's place. So I don't know which dogs to trust yet. When you’re in my situation, you’ve got to be careful. At my age, a broken bone can be the end."

Merlin nodded. "I see. I hope you like it around here."

Her face turned sad. "It's not home."

Gwenny whined and scooted a bit closer.

Maria looked at her. "You're one of the good ones, right?"

"She is." Merlin smiled as he watched Gwen's nose inching its way towards Maria's hand. "And I think she would really like to be petted now."

Looking up at Merlin and then jerking back a little bit as Gwenny nudged her hand, Maria looked back at the dog for a moment. Very carefully, she reached out and stroked Gwen's head gently. "Yes, you are."

Gwenny wagged her tail happily and took the chance to lick Maria's hand.

"I think you've made a new friend." Merlin laughed. "Thank you for the chance to let her find out that people in wheelchairs are not dangerous and definitely need no barking at. I think we should go to work now, they're already waiting for us, Gwen." He said good-bye to Maria and took Gwen along to the clinic, even though she kept turning around to look at Maria, who smiled as she continued on her way.

"You know what I'm thinking, Gwenny?" Merlin hung up his jacket and pulled his denim work shirt on, "I mean...how about we'll talk to Gwaine and try to find a few others and then," he grinned when Gwenny tilted her head as she looked at him, "and then we'll make regular visits to the home and see if we can make a few more new friends?"

Gwenny barked once and then went to check if Freya, who just entered the place, had some treats for her.


	41. The funeral

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin insists that Arthur comes along

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Camelot_Drabble's prompt: funeral
> 
> Not beta'd, sorry.

“Do we really have to?“ Arthur sighed and looked at the contents of his closet unhappily.

Merlin folded the collar of his shirt down and shoved the knot of his black tie up a bit further, checking his looks in the mirror. “Yes, Arthur, we have to.”

“Come on! It was just a canary!” Taking a deep breath, Arthur pulled his t-shirt over his head and slipped the white shirt on. His face showed that he wasn’t happy with what Merlin had dragged himself into now.

“To you, it was just a canary. To Emily, he was a friend.” Merlin sat down to tie his black shoes.

“Who’s Emily again?” Stuffing the shirt into his trousers, Arthur frowned.

Gwenny padded in and sat by the door, looking from one to the other. 

“She’s Mordred’s little sister. You know Mordred, he lives across the clinic.” 

Wagging her tail when she heard the name, Gwenny sat up straighter. 

“Are you coming, too, Gwenny?” Merlin got up and patted Gwenny’s head while he reached for his suit jacket. 

Arthur checked his tie again. “Now you’re dragging our girl into this, too?”

“Emily said she would like us to be there by two and it’ll probably do her good if Gwenny is around as well.”

“You promised her to be there, what does it have to do with me? Why do I have to stand around in a garden of a family I don't even know?” Arthur obviously still wasn’t finished complaining as he put his shoes on.

Mercury strolled in and even though he seemed to ignore everyone as he always did, he went straight for Arthur and rubbed himself against Arthur’s leg. 

“Oh, well, thank you, cat! Now my best black suit has cat hair all over it!” Arthur grumped. 

“She won’t mind as long as we’ll show up on time. Come on, Arthur, it won’t take long and you’ll make a little girl feel a little less sad after her canary died.” Merlin came over, pressed a quick smooch on Arthur’s cheek and helped him straighten the collar of his jacket. 

“You behave yourself while we’re gone, Mercury.” Arthur threw the cat a look but Mercury had already curled up between the pillows on the bed. 

“Let’s go, Gwenny.”

As they drove over, Gwenny sticking her head out between the front seats, Arthur muttered. “A funeral for a canary.” When she looked at him, he frowned. “What are you grinning at? You at least didn’t have to dress up for this.”

Merlin chuckled as he parked the car. “Behave, you two. There will be a reward in it for both of you when we come back.”


	42. Christmas Photo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin comes home and doesn't really know what's going on. He just knows that you don't usually decorate a dog with Christmas lights, do you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And no, this isn't beta'd either.

Merlin pulled the beanie off his head when he entered the house. 

It had been a long hard day at the clinic. The morning had been slow and he had helped Freya putting some Christmas decoration up. After lunch business had picked up and all of a sudden, the waiting room was full and in the end, they called Percy to see if he had the time to help out. 

Finally, Merlin had treated the last patient and they closed up. He had planned to do some Christmas shopping, but he was just too tired, so he went home right away.

“I’m here!” He shouted, but nobody reacted.

Hanging his winter coat up and toeing off his shoes, Merlin rolled his shoulders. Maybe Arthur was still out at the dog school or just for a walk? Or he’d find him in his office typing away on a new and exciting story? 

Merlin made himself a tea that tasted of gingerbread and grabbed the mail on the way to the living room. Before he could switch on the lights, though, something ran across the room, covered in Christmas lights. 

“Gwenny?”

She wagged her tail so hard that all of her being wagged along when she saw him.

“Hey, girl. What happened to you?” While Merlin patted her, he blinked at the lights wrapped around her. 

“Gwenny! Gwen, come back, we’re not done yet!”

Blinking, Merlin looked in the direction the voice came from. “Arthur?”

“Gwen!”

“What are you doing?” Merlin followed Gwen when she ran back to Arthur.

Mercury all but fled through the open door and if Merlin wasn’t mistaken, he was wearing a little Santa hat. “What the…?” He pushed the door open and took in the sight. 

Arthur tried to place Gwenny next to a tiny fake Christmas tree, but each time he walked back to where he had set up the camera on a tripod, Gwenny ran over to him, wagging her tail and sniffing at the tripod. 

“Mercury? Mercury, come back!” Arthur had his glasses on his head and turned to find the cat when he finally spotted Merlin. A huge smile spread on his face. “Right on time!”

Merlin blinked. “For...what exactly?”

“Our Christmas photo of course! Go, wear a Christmas jumper!”

“What’s wrong with my shirt?”

“It’s plaid and it’s blue and it doesn’t fit the red and green setting.” Arthur pressed a kiss on Merlin’s cheek as he passed him. “Mercury, where are you?”

Merlin knew there was no arguing with Arthur when he had set his mind on something, so he went to find one of his Christmas jumpers in the back of the closet and made it back to Arthur’s office just as Arthur came back with a rather grumpy looking Mercury on his arm. 

“Great, we’re all together. Sit down there and hold Gwenny, I have Mercury, doesn’t he look adorable with this Santa hat?” Arthur adjusted the hat a bit and the cat, who had given up fighting, threw Merlin a look. 

Chuckling, Merlin nodded at the cat and ruffled Gwenny’s fur before he pointed at the camera.

Arthur took photo after photo before Mercury finally struggled free, leaving a long nasty scratch on the back of Arthur’s hand and Gwenny whined and tried to get rid of the lights. 

“Enough.” Merlin got up and freed Gwenny and picked up the Santa hat Mercury had been wearing.

“Oh,” Arthur examined the wound, “It’s more important to clean the place up than to tend to me? I’m heavily injured here!”

Merlin grinned and pressed a kiss on Arthur’s cheek. “You will survive. Trust me, I’m a doctor.”

“For animals!”

“Humans are just mammals, too.” Merlin shrugged. “But now come, you poor injured creature. Let’s get this cleaned and then I’ll put a plaster on it and sing ‘Warm kitty, soft kitty’ for you, okay?”

Arthur chuckled as he followed Merlin. “And then we’ll look at the photos and decide which one will be our Christmas card this year, yes?”

Entering the bathroom, Merlin chuckled. He loved Arthur each day of the year, but he was especially adorable when he was giddy about Christmas and Merlin wondered, what Arthur would do next to spread the Christmas cheer.


	43. Making like turtle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sexy silliness. You might find a plot if you look really hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little turtle can be admired here: [Turtle](https://49.media.tumblr.com/f51f1bbf66944082feb2c7c69ff94105/tumblr_o2hvcpuMao1v828c8o1_400.gif)
> 
> Song is "I don't feel like dancing" by the Sicossor Sisters. [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H5I6y1Qvz0)
> 
> This helps with reading the story because that's what I had in mind. 
> 
> And no, I won't start getting these beta'd. ;)

Merlin hummed to himself as he kicked his jeans aside and pulled the t-shirt over his head. It had been a long day and he was looking forward to a hot shower.

“Everything alright, girl?” He smiled when Gwenny pushed the door open with her nose just far enough for her to poke her head through. She wagged her tail, which he couldn’t see since her butt was still out in the corridor. “That’s great!” He told her. “Just let me take a shower and we’ll see what we do later, okay?” Merlin chuckled when Gwenny barked once and then disappeared. 

He was in a good mood; when Percy graduated from university, he had offered him a job at the clinic and together, they had helped several pets today. They’d had a lot of fun with their newest addition to the small zoo they gathered in the back of the clinic, a little turtle a girl had brought in after her dog had found it while they were on a walk. 

It had been all dirty but seemed unharmed else but for maybe being a bit too cold, so he and Freya had decided to just clean it under some warm water. The little turtle had wiggled under the spray and seemed to have a hell of a good time after a while, making all of them laugh. Percy even filmed it with his mobile and promised to send it over. It had led to utter silliness when Merlin and Freya immediately thought of a song that matched the turtle’s wiggling and had belted that out and danced through the clinic after making sure the little turtle was okay and made short process of some lettuce. 

So Merlin shed his clothes and stepped into the shower and as he enjoyed the water running down his body, he swayed his hips and hummed to himself, never noticing that Arthur leaned against the door frame, smiling widely.

As Merlin lifted his arms to wash them, he caught a glimpse of Arthur. “Hi babe, what are you doing?”

“Admiring the view.” Arthur grinned.

“See anything you like?” Merlin swayed his hips a bit more.

“Oh, yes!” Nodding, Arthur set his glasses down on the sink, shed his clothes quickly and rushed to the shower. 

Merlin turned towards him to steal a kiss but didn’t protest either when Arthur turned him around and sank to his knees behind him. He playfully wiggled his butt but the light giggles turned into moans as soon as Arthur started kissing and nibbling the soft wet skin in front of him. Merlin went hard the moment he felt Arthur’s tongue in hi crack, slowly making its way to his entrance. He braced against the tiled wall, pushing his arse out a bit more, spreading his legs a bit further to give Arthur better access. 

While Arthur ate out his arse, he fondled Merlin’s smooth balls, rubbing the spot right behind them just enough to drive Merlin crazy. He tried to reach for his cock but Arthur beat him to it.

It didn’t take much – a little touch here, a short pull there – and Merlin came hard. 

While Merlin was still panting, Arthur kissed his way up Merlin’s back slowly, wrapped his arms around him and licked at his ear. “So, what was that wiggling and teasing all about?”

Merlin tried to catch his breath enough to speak as he leaned back into Arthur, feeling his hard dick against his arse. “Making the turtle.”

“I’ll never understand you doctor-y types.” Arthur chuckled and then bit down lightly on where Merlin’s neck joined his shoulder, drawing a long whine out of Merlin. 

“Fuck me,” Merlin begged.

“Will you explain after I made you come again, you beautiful greedy little creature?” 

“Yes!” Merlin pushed back urgently. He just came but he could never get enough of Arthur. He yelled out when he felt Arthur’s fingers on him, preparing him just as much as absolutely necessary before he shoved in with one long stroke. 

Arthur closed his eyes and pounded into Merlin quickly. 

Merlin moved against him and with him as much as he could, enjoying the hard length inside him and couldn’t keep the desperate noises in that he was making. 

“So hot,” Arthur growled as he pushed in over and over. “Come again, Merlin, come for me.”

Merlin felt his orgasm building and his body tensed up again, tightening around Arthur and he felt Arthur coming just split seconds after him. 

They stood in the shower for a while, breathing hard, not moving else.

As Arthur carefully pulled out, he kissed Merlin’s shoulder. “So, what was that wiggling about?”

Merlin laughed a little breathlessly. “Just for this.”

“Huh?”

“I got what I wanted.” Merlin giggled. 

Slapping Merlin’s arse playfully, Arthur stepped out of the shower. “Glad I could be of service.”

+++

A while later, they were cuddled up on the couch underneath a blanket, both laughing about the little film Percy had sent over and Merlin singing the song they had come up with.

Gwenny was curled up in her bed, sometimes raising and eyebrow at them, sighing deeply as she turned to the other side. 

 

Little turtle can be admired here: [Turtle](https://49.media.tumblr.com/f51f1bbf66944082feb2c7c69ff94105/tumblr_o2hvcpuMao1v828c8o1_400.gif)

Song is "I don't feel like dancing" by the Sicossor Sisters. [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H5I6y1Qvz0)


	44. Chapter 44

Merlin startled when he felt someone standing in front of the bed and was watching him. He blinked. “Gwenny…what’s wrong?”

Wagging her tail tentatively, Gwenny gave a soft whine and looked at the door.

Alarmed, Merlin sat up. A quick check of the other side of the bed showed that Arthur wasn’t back yet. He climbed out of bed and followed Gwenny, who was already standing in the doorway, looking back at him as if to say that he was too slow and he needed to hurry up. 

Listening into the seemingly empty house, Merlin padded down the stairs carefully. Maybe he should have armed himself with something in case there was a burglar. He knew Gwenny wouldn’t be a big help – she’d just wag her tail, welcoming the newcomer. 

When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw a figure lying on the floor of the living room. A figure that looked a lot like Arthur. Merlin’s breath caught and he switched on the light. What if Arthur had stumbled over something on his way in and hurt himself? What if he hit his head on the coffee table? He hadn’t move when the lights came on. 

“Arthur?”

Merlin was over in no time, on his knees next to Arthur. As he was about to check him for injuries, Arthur curled up tighter and snored. 

Blinking, Merlin didn’t know if he should laugh or cry before he felt the giggles surfacing. Gwenny just looked at him and when she sniffed at Arthur and then jumped back, Merlin lost it completely. 

“He’s alright, Gwenny. I just think, he might have a killer hangover in the morning.”

Gwenny sat down and looked at him, not really convinced.

“That’s what we get when Arthur goes out partying with Gwaine.” Merlin scrambled up. “I’ve never seen him quite so drunk, but hey, it’s not my hangover, right?” He took a fleece throw from the back of the couch and spread it over Arthur. 

Getting up and looking from Arthur to Merlin and back, Gwenny wasn’t too happy with what was going on. 

“We’ll just leave him here. No need to try to get him up a flight of stairs.”

Mercury strode in and stretched, totally unimpressed by what was going on. 

Merlin went to the kitchen to get himself a glass of water and when he came back, Mercury had sat down on Arthur’s hip as if it was just a bump in the floor and looked over his realm. 

“Come on, Gwenny, Mercury’s got this covered, let’s go back to sleep.” Merlin switched off the light and made his way up the stairs again.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [With Puppy](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2859002) by [Merlocked18](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merlocked18/pseuds/Merlocked18)




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